I'm always here
by Waterlooroadrachel
Summary: Rachel has a daughter and her two young nieces live with her after there parents died, follows the day to day life of the family both at school and at home
1. Chapter 1

hapter 1

Right so this is my new fic it's about Jess from unbreakable bonds but when she's 6 because I've enjoyed writing the chapter when Jess was younger but she's also got a sister who's 11 called Katy and they both live with Rachel after there parents were killed in a car Rachel also has an 8 year old called Olivia . This is a different storyline to unbreakable bonds so some things will be different and characters might be a bit different too, just kind of basing this Jess on the other Jess if that makes sense haha, oh and in this fic Rachel's mums still alive and there quite close

It was the usual Monday morning madness and Rachel was trying to get everyone organised for school, however when there was three girls in the house this was easier said than done. Katy was up quite early and got dressed quickly so this was one less person to worry about but Rachel still had the other two to contend with. Rachel decided to check on Katy anyway before waking the youngest two up just in case she hadn't woken up yet, she knocked on her nieces door knowing she'd get an mouthful if she just barged in.

"What" Katy shouted

Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes however she wasn't really expecting to be greeted in any other way forts thing on a Monday morning

"Oh hi Katy it's lovely to see you too" Rachel said causing Katy to smile

"Sorry" she said

Rachel was about to leave when she noticed Katy's appearance she could tell she'd hitched her skirt up quite a lot and was also wearing make up, Rachel sighed when she saw her, ever since Katy had joined year 7 she'd been having an ongoing battle with her about her version of school uniform and the make up she insisted on wearing every day despite her being in far too young in Rachel's eyes

"Right sort that skirt out and you'll find the make up wipes in the bathroom cupboard"

"Oh but Rachel..." Katy protested

"But nothing I mean it Katy sorry it out"

"Oh why do you always have to be so unreasonable all the other girls wear it do you want me looking like the school freak or something" Katy shouted before flouncing off to get make up wipes. Rachel had seen that coming but she wasn't going to back down she couldn't help but feel Katy was trying far too hard to grow up when she was still really just a little kid.

Rachel decided to leave her niece in peace and go and see to the other two kids, she went into her daughters bedroom first and gently shook her awake.

"Mum I want to stay in bed" Olivia mumbled sleepily

"I know you do love but it's time to get up for school, or you'll be going in your pyjamas" Rachel joked causing Olivia to giggle, after a bit of persuasion Olivia eventually did get up.

"Good girl" Rachel said smiling

"Mum why do I have to go to school?" Olivia asked Rachel smiled her daughter always did put a smile on her face even when she had the prospect of delivering assembly to 600 rowdy teenagers looming ahead of her.

"Well because you have to learn, so then you can get a good job"

"I won't need a good job though" Olivia said

"Oh and why's that" Rachel asked as Olivia steeped out of her pyjamas

"Because when I get older I'll just marry someone rich and then I can stay at home and watch tv all day long" she explained and Rachel couldn't help but laugh, she quickly made up her daughters bed before going into Jess's bedroom, she knew that ever since her mum died a couple of months ago Jess hadn't been sleeping too well and would often finish up in Rachel's room so she always did hate waking her on a morning.

"Jess wake up sweetie" she said gently, eventually Jess stirred.

"Morning love you sleep okay"

Jess didn't respond at first just came and sat down on her aunts knee for a cuddle.

"What on earth is up with this hair missus, god this is going to take some brushing" Rachel sighed when she saw how tangled Jess's hair had gotten over night, she wasn't looking forward to the screaming that would come along with brushing it out.

"Rachel I don't feel well today" Jess said

"What's up?" Rachel asked knowing full well this was just another one of Jess's attempts to have the day off.

"I was sick and I still feel poorly" Jess said sounding sorry for herself

"Oh really" Rachel said suspiciously "right I'll get the thermometer and some of that medicine"

Jess immediately changed her mind when she heard this she hated the medicine her aunt had and nothing was as bad as having a couple of spoonfuls of it.

"It's not that bad I suppose" Jess said

"Sounds pretty nasty to me"

"I'll be okay"

"Well wasn't that a quick recovery then" Rachel said

Rachel quickly got Jess ready and then made breakfast, the younger two came rushing down however there was no sight of Kate so Rachel shouted her again but when she still didn't get a response she realised she'd have to go upstairs.

"Hey come on you, your breakfasts here" Rachel said

"I'm not hungry" Kate said

"Well you have to eat something before school" Rachel said "and I thought I told you to sort the skirt and make up out" she added

Kate sighed before pulling her skirt down and rubbing off the remainder of her makeup

"Much better" Rachel said causing Kate to roll her eyes.

The rest of the morning past quite quickly and soon it was time for them all to get in the car ready for school.

"Mum please can I go to Lucy's tonight" Olivia asked

"Yeah if that's okay with her mum" Rachel replied

She then dropped off Olivia and Jess at school so it was just her and Kate in the car.

"Are you okay love?" Rachel asked thinking Kate had seemed a bit snappy and quiet this morning

When she didn't get a response Rachel looked across at her niece who was completely preoccupied by her phone.

"You better turn that off before school young lady" she said eventually getting Kate's attention "anyway I said are you okay you seem a bit off this morning"

"I'm fine" Katy replied

"Are you sure? Because I'm always here if you need a chat or something, I know it's hard to get me on my own when there's Jess and liv around but I'll always find time for you"

"I know"

Rachel decided not to push her anymore and just leave things they finished the drive to school both of them in there own little worlds.

"Bye Rach I'll see you later"

"Bye love have a good day" Rachel said before going off into her office to get things sorted before assembly

It was about 12 when the phone started ringing, Rachel instantly picked it up and found out it was the primary school apparently Jess wasn't feeling very well so they'd asked if Rachel could come and get her.

Rachel said she'd come and quickly got her coat and bag and drove to the school where Jess was waiting in reception. When she saw her aunt she came over and gave her a hug, Rachel crouched down so she was on her level.

"Jess what's wrong with you" Rachel asked a little wearily

"I've got a sore stomach " Jess responded

Rachel sighed before signing Jess out, together they walked over to the car and Rachel made sure she was strapped in.

"I'll drop you off at grandmas now you'll have to stay there till I finish work" Rachel told her niece

"Okay" Jess said sounding small

They soon arrived at Rachel's mums house and Jess jumped out.

Rachel knocked on the door and after quite a while her mum answered

"Hello" the old lady said smiling at her daughter and granddaughter

"Hiya mum look sorry it's such short notice but is there any chance you could keep an eye on Jess for a bit school sent her home" Rachel explained

"Course it is you fancy coming in for a coffee love" she asked

"I should really get back mum, I just left Chris in charge"

"Oh go on I'm sure they can live without you for a bit it'll be lunch anyway won't it?"

"Oh go on then but I can't stay long"

Soon they were all sat in the living room Rachel and Betty were having there coffee and Jess was sipping her juice.

"You want some biscuits you two" Betty asked

"Not for me mum I'm on a diet remember and not for Jess either not if she's poorly"

"What's wrong with you Jess you don't look Ill love" Betty commented

"Yeah and she doesn't seem Ill either" Rachel Said

"I have a sore throat" Jess explained

"You know that's funny, I'm almost certain it was a sore stomach earlier" Rachel said catching Jess out

"That's you caught out young lady" Betty said

Jess didn't say anything just looked down at the ground guilty

"What's going on Jess" Rachel asked

Betty couldn't help but smile at the two of them this really reminded her of the countless times she would traipse up to Rachel's school when she was little to pick her up when she was pretending to be ill, Rachel always had been a handful when she was little but it was lovely for Betty to see her daughter with children because she was such a good mum and Rachel had really helped her through losing her youngest daughter, she'd been an amazing shoulder to cry on.

"I have a bad tummy as well"

"You really are as bad a liar as your mum and auntie were madam, honestly I remember this one time your mum wanted a day off so she got the talc-on powder out the bathroom put it all over her face and drew read spots on, honestly the two of them were such a handful" Betty said laughing

Jess laughed but then her eyes immediately began to fill with tears, someone even mentioning her mum would always make her upset.

Rachel saw this and put Jess on her knee where she immediately began to cry onto her.

"Oh I'm sorry love I didn't mean to make you upset me and my mouth ..." Betty said feeling awful

"She'll be alright in a minute won't you darling" Rachel said

"Rachel I'm sorry for making you come and get me it's just everyone was going on about there mums and I got upset but I didn't want to start crying so I said I felt ill" Jess explained

"Oh love, it's okay to be upset I promise it is but what we can't have is you starting to miss school"

"Listen to me love your mum she loved you and she'll still love you now wherever she is and what she wouldn't want is you getting all upset she hated it when people were sad especially you and Katie" Betty said

"I miss her I want her back" Jess cried

"I know love I know" Rachel soothed

She stayed for a bit longer until she'd managed to calm Jess down

"Mum I'd better be heading off I'll give you a hand with the washing up first though" Rachel said

"I can do it, it's okay"

"No don't be daft"

"You've changed a bit since you were a teenager Rachel" Betty joked causing Rachel to smile, the two women wet through to the kitchen leaving Jess watching tv.

"How are they doing" Betty asked when they were washing up

"Better, honestly there starting to get better Katie's settled in so well at school made loads of new friends but she's always been loud hasn't she so has Jess for that matter but I don't know, I'm worried about them still Jess wakes up more or less every night, finishes up in with me and Katie well, she seems fine she's just a bit stroppy at the moment but I don't know maybe that's just hormones or something, 11 isn't a good age at the best of times and to have all the crap that's gone on as well to deal with it's got to be hard"

"I know poor girls at least they've got you though"

"Well I try my best to you know , be there for them but I don't want to push them too much"

"Best way and what about Olivia how's she finding it all"

"Oh you know what Olivia's like, she just gets on with most things, it must be strange for her though when she's so used to it just being me and her"

"It'll be nice for her to have some company"

"Hmm maybe anyway I'd really better be going thanks for keeping an eye on her"

"No problem love"

"Call me if there's any trouble"

"I will"

Rachel quickly said goodbye to Jess before driving back to school. She was stuck in traffic when she saw a few girls walking along the street next to her, she could see by the blazers they were waterloo road pupils so intended she wound down her window ready to tell them to get in her car. She was shocked when she saw it was her niece and 2 of her friends.

"Excuse me what are the threeof you doing" Rachel said icily

"Shit" Katie's friend muttered under her breath however she wasn't quiet enough for Rachel not to hear

"Get in we'll talk about it at home"

The drive back was uncomfortably quiet Rachel broke the silence by saying "right when we get back to school the three of you can go straight to my office"

The three of them stayed quiet not daring to say anything.

Soon they arrived back at school so they all got out and followed Rachel up to her office.

"Right would one of you like to explain what you were doing out of school when you should have been in registration"

"We snuck out and went to the shops at lunch but then we kind of got lost on our way back" one of them explained

"We're sorry Rach it won't happen again" Katie said

"It's miss mason in school katie" Rachel snapped

"Okay miss we're sorry" Katie said sarcastically and now not sounding the least bit sorry at all

" mind your tone" Rachel said frostily

"For gods sake" Katie muttered, Rachel heard but chose to ignore it not wanting a big scene in front of the other girls.

"Right you're all on detention and I'll be calling your parents later" Rachel said

"What about me" Katie said "you going to call me parents"

Rachel sighed before saying "right go on get to class"

The three of them got up and started to walk out

"Katie I want a word" Rachel said

Katie rolled her eyes before turning to face her aunt, once the other three girls had gone Rachel closed there shutter so they could speak in private.

"Don't you want me to get to lesson miss" Katie said emphasising the word miss

"Katie what's gotten into you" Rachel asked leaning against her desk

"All I did was sneak off to get some sweets and a can of coke"

"Yeah but it's not just that is it, you started off so well but now we seem to be having a few issues don't we"

"I'm sorry" Katie sighed

"Look I do know it's not easy, believe it or not I do understand ..." Rachel began

"I said I'm sorry"

"I know it's just ... Look love is there something going on you want to tell me about, it's a while ago granted but I can remember what it's like being 11 and you know everything's starting to change" Rachel said her voice softer now

"I'm fine" Katie said "can I go now?"

"Yeah go on come and meet me at the end of the day, oh and Jess came home earlier so we'll need to pick her up from grandmas later"

"Why?"

"She got a bit upset at school, pretended she was I'll" Rachel told her

"Is she okay"

"Yep just could do with a bit of tlc that's all"

"Oh Right"

After what seemed like an eternity The bell for the end of school went, Katie said bye to her friends before going to meet her aunt in the car.

Olivia was at her friends so Rachel drove straight to Betty's to pick up Jess

"Rach I'm sorry about earlier" Katy said

"Okay love just don't let it happen again"

"I won't" Katie promised, they then quickly went to pick Jess up before driving back home.

The evening passed quite quickly and before long Olivia was home

"Hi darling good you have a good time" Rachel asked

Olivia just nodded her head in response but Rachel just thought she must be tired after all it was 8 and Olivia never had been one for staying up late.

"Do you want a bath or should we just leave It for tonight"

"Leave it" Olivia relied

"Okay let's go upstairs then" Rachel said "try and be quite love because I've just got Jess off to sleep"

"Okay"

Rachel quickly got Olivia into her pyjamas.

"Right go to the loo and brush your teeth then hop into bed"

Olivia quickly got sorted and then slid into her bed

"Night darling sleep tight" Rachel whispered at Olivia closed her eyes

"Night mum love you" Olivia mumbled before turning over and going to sleep

It was about 10:30 and Rachel and just got to bed and was reading her new book when she heard someone knocking at her door.

"Yeah come in" Rachel said thinking it must be Jess to her surprise it was Olivia

"Mum I'm sorry but can I come in with you for a bit" Olivia asked sheepishly

"Alright love come on"

"I thought you might be with Jess or Katie so I didn't want to come in if you were busy" Olivia said

"Well whether I was or not, I'm still your mum darling you can come and see me whenever even if it's just for a cuddle or something " Rachel said "actually I'm glad you came in it feels like we haven't had much time just me and you so we haven't had a good chat in ages have we"

"Can we talk about something" Olivia asked

"Course we can" Rachel replied putting her arm around Olivia "what is It sweetheart"

"Well I was just wondering .. Well if ..."

"Darling it's okay take your time, I'm not going to be angry or shocked or anything"

"Is it true that dad doesn't ever want to see me again and he doesn't love me" Olivia asked her eye filling with tears, Rachel sighed she should have known this would be coming soon, her husband had walked out a year ago and Olivia had always coped really well with it but recently she'd been having more and more questions about her dad.

"No love dad loves you" Rachel replied

"Why doesn't he ever come and see me then" Olivia asked

"Oh darling I don't know, but I'm sure he will sometime soon, are you missing him a lot recently?" Rachel asked gently

At first Olivia shook her head "no ...well sort of" she admitted

"That's okay darling, I know that you don't always want to and that's understandable but if ever you want to have a good talk about dad you are allowed to you knew I'd hate to think you were bottling things up I know that me and your dad ... Towards the end we didn't get on so well but that does not mean we can't talk about him okay ?" Rachel said

"I know"

"Good girl now do you fancy staying with me tonight like when you were little" Rachel asked

"Yeah" Olivia said

Rachel turned off the light and put her arms around her daughter and quickly fell asleep

Please review and let me know what you think of this xxxxxxxxx


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was a Saturday morning and Katie was getting ready to go out with some friends into town, she had been up quite a while getting ready so Rachel decided to check on her, it was only 8:30 so Rachel hadn't woken up the other 2 girls yet deciding they could do with a lie in.

"Morning love" Rachel said coming into her nieces room.

"Hiya Rach" Katie said "Rachel do you think this top will look alright with my jeans" Katie asked holding up her favourite red top

"Yeah it'll look nice but it is only town your going to" Rachel reminded her

"I know but I want to look nice"

"You'll always look nice darling" Rachel said it was true Katie was really very pretty and almost everyone said so "anyway what time are you going at"

"10" Katie told her

"Okay love you'll need a lift won't you?"

"Yeah please"

"Okay love" Rachel said she was about to leave when she heard the door open and Olivia stood there.

"Good morning darling" Rachel said smiling at her daughter however then she realised the red circles around her eyes making it obvious she'd been crying, Rachel knelt down beside her and gave her a hug however almost as soon as she did Olivia started to sob, Rachel knew Olivia wouldn't want a fuss made in front of Katy as it would embarrass her with Katy being a lot older than she was and Olivia and always been slightly in awe of her older cousin "should me and you go somewhere quiet" Rachel whispered Olivia just nodded her head in response.

Rachel took her hand and let her into Olivia's bedroom. "Come and sit down love" Rachel said as she went and sat down on her daughters bed "now what's happened sweetheart" Rachel asked

"I didn't get to sleep till really late not until ages after you all went to bed and I kept having bad reams and waking up and now I feel really weird and I keep crying " Olivia explained

"Oh love that's just because you're knackered you always feel like rubbish, why didn't you come and see me?" Rachel asked

"I don't know" Olivia mumbled

Rachel thought for a moment before saying "darling I am always here for you any time you need me, Jess and Katie being here it doesn't change anything between me and you promise, I'll always have time for you no matter what else is going on"

"I know I like them but ... sometimes I need to tell you stuff, stuff I don't like other people knowing just you"

"I know sweetie but all you ever have to do is pull me to one side I know it isn't as easy as when it,was just me and you but anything you ever want to tell me you can" Rachel said "so what were the dreams about huh ?" Rachel asked

"Nothing ...I can't remember" Olivia said

"I thought we said no secrets"

"They were just about ... You and dad when you used to argue but in my dream it got really bad and he started getting angry with me as well and he hit me but them I woke up"

"Oh love come here" Rachel said bringing "I love you so much darling and do you think I'd ever let anyone hurt you ?"

"No" Olivia sniffled

"Of course I wouldn't and I know how bad things got with me and daddy and I also know how hard it must have been for you" Rachel said

They had a cuddle for a couple of minutes but soon the door was opened

"Rach can I use some of your lipstick and mascara" Katie asked

"Yeah alright love but be sensible"

"What do you think I'm going to do use them as a sword or something" Katie said sarcastically

"Oi don't be cheeky and I mean don't go out looking like a clown"

"That's so rude" Katie said before flouncing out the room.

"Watch it you" Rachel called "I'm sure you won't be like this later when you're needing you're own personal taxi service"

Rachel then turned her attention back to her daughter who seemed a lot happier now, Rachel was glad she hated seeing Olivia upset, it was the one thing she couldn't bare.

"Listen I'm going to nip downstairs for a bit get on with some ironing, you want to put the tv on for a bit" Rachel asked, Olivia liked the sound of this so went downstairs with her mum both of them still in there pyjamas and started watching tv.

Before long katie came running downstairs "Rach, Alicia text me saying can I go round to hers for a bit before we go so can you drop me off now"

Rachel sighed before saying "can you not wait half an hour, me and Olivia haven't even got dressed yet and I haven't even got your sister out of bed"

"Can't you just leave her here?" Katie asked desperate to get going

"Yeah that's going to sound great isn't it oh yeah I had to leave a 6 year old here on her own because my incredibly impatient niece won't wait 10 minutes"

"Fine" Katie sighed before going back upstairs, Rachel quickly put her ironing away deciding it could wait till later she quickly woke Jess up and got her dressed, Rachel then made sure Olivia got ready before quickly getting her joggers a vest top and a hoodie out and putting them on and quickly tied her hair up in a pony, she realised she must look a mess however she didn't care at the moment as it wasn't as though anyone was going to see her.

"Come on then katie" Rachel shouted from the bottom of the stairs

"Rach ..." Katie began Rachel could tell just by her voice she wanted something and judging by the fact she was going to town she guessed it would be money.

"There's £30 in my bag and that's your lot"

"Thanks Rach" Katie said gratefully

They then all got in the car, luckily the drive to Alicia's house wasn't very long.

"Bye Rachel" Katie called as she went out

"Bye love" Rachel said once she'd gone inside Rachel started to drive back

"Rachel please can I go out and play with Lucy when we get back?" Jess asked

"It's pouring down with rain love"

"We'll stay inside" Jess said

"Alright then but make sure you do, don't want you catching a cold" Rachel said

Soon they arrived back home and Jess went next door to play with Lucy.

"Just me and you for an hour or so then liv" Rachel said thinking it'd be nice just spending time with Olivia and for Olivia to have her to herself for a bit.

"Please can we do something mum?" Olivia asked

"Course we can, what do you fancy?"

"Can we make some of those chocolate cakes we made ages ago"

"What the ones that barely made it to the oven because you'd got them all over your face" Rachel said laughing

"Yep" Olivia replied

"Sure but do you have any homework you've got to do first"

"Yeah a little bit"

"Well I'll give you a hand with that if you like then we'll get on"

"Okay"

Rachel and Olivia went into the kitchen and Olivia got her school bag out and got her homework and stuff out.

"Have you got any letters or anything for me?" Rachel asked

"I don't think so" Olivia said

"Well maybe I'd better check seeing as I'm the onesie gets an earful when you forget about them and I don't fill them in" Rachel said, she picked Olivia's bag up and started going through it and sure enough she found a couple of letters at the bottom.

When she saw her mum had found them Olivia immediately began to get a Bit worried and started biting her nails.

Rachel quickly glanced over the first one and signed it "you really do need to start looking after these things Olivia honestly this one was important it was about this school trip,your meant to be going on, you wouldn't have been happy if you couldn't go on it because you hadn't given me this" Rachel said she then turned her attention to the other letter and was quite shocked when she read through it apparently Olivia had been behaving really strangely and had ended up hitting another kid.

Once she'd read it she out it down and looked at Olivia who was looking at the ground biting her nails.

"Olivia" Rachel said

"Yeah" Olivia said sounding nervous

"Stop staring at the ground and look at me please"

Olivia looked up at her mum.

"Mum I'm sorry" Olivia said tears starting to from in her eyes

Rachel sighed,she didn't want to let Olivia get away with this however she knew her daughter and she knew this wasn't like this normally, fair enough she could be quite mischievous and was certainly not quiet but she'd always been really sensible and quite well behaved, she hated getting into trouble either at school or at home. "Come on let's go into the lounge love i want a word"

"Mum don't be mad I just ..." Olivia sobbed

"Love I just want a word that's all" Rachel said

Reluctantly Olivia followed her mum through to the lounge and sat down on the sofa. Rachel out her arm around her to show she wasn't really angry.

"What happened?" Rachel asked gently

"She was just going on and on and wouldn't shut up so I hit her" Olivia admitted

"What was she going on about"

"Dad and everything she was saying he didn't love me and that your both bad people for getting a divorce" Olivia explained

Rachel pulled Olivia into her, she could see why she got upset and it made her feel angry at the girl as well but when she thought about it, it was probably just stuff she'd picked up from home, adults were always going to discuss things that there kids would overhear and repeat in all innocence.

"Darling you've got to ignore her, she wouldn't have meant any of it probably wouldn't have even known what divorce properly means and you know it's not true, but you can't go around hitting people love you know it's not on" Rachel said

"I know" Olivia mumbled

"So next time when someone says something what are we going to do?"

"Walk away go and find a teacher and if I don't want to talk to a teacher wait till the end of the day then come straight to you" Olivia said repeating what Rachel had said to her hundreds of times.

"Good girl" Rachel said "now I say leave the homework till later and let's do some baking yeah?"

Olivia smiled and gave her mum a hug glad that she hadn't got angry with her

They then went through to the kitchen and started baking.

They had a great time together even if the kitchen did end up in a bit of a mess.

Rachel put the cakes in the oven and Olivia started to wander off.

"Oi where are you going missus"

"To watch tv"

"Oh no your not your helping me clean this mess up"

"But mum last time I helped you just said "honestly I'd you want something doing do it yourself" so I'll do you a favour now" Olivia said before skipping off

"Cheeky sod" Rachel muttered but she couldn't help but laugh

After a while Rachel heard a knock at the front door so went to answer it, she was surprised when she saw Jess soaked through.

"Jess I thought you were staying inside" Rachel said getting her in the house straight away as she was shivering

"We went to play in the garden for a bit, we didn't realise it would be so cold and wet"

"Well didn't Lucy's mum stop you" Rachel asked

"She didn't know, she was upstairs working"

Rachel rolled her eyes before going upstairs to run a bath for Jess, when it was ready she called her up. Jess cam running upstairs and Olivia came too.

Rachel helped Jess out her wet things and put her straight in the warm bath

"Do you want to go in too love it'll save having to have one later" Rachel asked

"Okay" Olivia said before taking her stuff off and getting in with Jess, but this was easier said than done seeing as Jess was taking up all the room pretending to be a fish and splashing her way up and down making an awful lot of mess.

"Jess sit up, your getting me soaking" Rachel said, Jess could be really boisterous at times especially when she was in the bath and playing one of her daft games, she'd never just sit still and let Rachel wash her

"You wouldn't say that to a fish" Jess argued

"Oh I would if it was getting me and my bathroom floor drenched now up let Olivia have some space"

"Why's Olivia In here I need the bath all to myself or I can't swim up and down because I'd crash into her" Jess said

"Jess why can't you ever just be normal" Rachel sighed she was joking but it was true Jess was hard work and after a day with her you always did feel exhausted.

"Can you get out that foam thing"

"No" Rachel said instantly

"Why"

"Because you'll squirt it at Olivia and get it in her eye, squirt it at me and get it all down my clothes and squirt it all around the bathroom so I have to spend the next half hour cleaning up" Rachel said

"That's not fair" Jess whined

"Jess just for once let me give you a quick bath, where your in and out in 5 minutes"

"There boring though" Jess whined

Rachel ignored her and quickly splashed Olivia's hair

"Rachel I need a wee" Jess said

"Oh just hang on 5 minutes Jess you'll get the floor soaking if you get out now"

Rachel quickly finished washing Olivia and then moved onto Jess knowing this was going to be a lot more difficult.

"Ow your hurting" Jess yelped almost the second Rachel touched her hair

"I've barely touched you" Rachel said "come on Jess be a good girl"

"But it hurts"

Rachel quickly finished washing her hair trying to be as gentle as possible but this was hard when Jess wouldn't stop pulling away

"I need a wee" Jess moaned

"Well now I've finished washing you, you can get out but just let me dry you down first" Rachel said

Jess quickly stepped out the bath and let Rachel dry her down before rushing to the toilet.

"Come on you out" Rachel said to Olivia, she dried her down as well and then got them both Into some clothes

Rachel felt shattered she didn't realise bathing two children could be such hard work, she had just sat down for a bit she heard the door open and Katie came In

"Hiya love" Rachel called "come here a sec"

"Hi Rach" Katie said sitting down next to her aunt on the sofa

"Did you have a nice time?" Rachel asked "looks like you got a lot for £30" Rachel said looking at all the bags of shopping

"There were loads of sales on everywhere" Katie told her

"Oh right let's see what you got then" Rachel said picking up the bags and starting to go through them

"That's gorgeous katie" she said when she looked in one of the bags and found a pretty top Katie had bought for summer

Rachel picked up another bag and had a look in it

"Oh no Rachel don't look in there ..." Katie said not wanting her auntie to see what she'd got

Rachel looked and saw Katie had bought a bra, she wasn't surprised really as although Katie was still quite flat chested she was bound to start to want to feel more like a woman.

She saw how embarrassed Katie looked so decided not to make a big thing of it "oh that's nice love, you made sure you got the right size didn't you"

Katie nodded her head in response and then much to Rachel's surprise burst into tears.

"Hey" Rachel said pulling Katie into her chest and letting her have a good cry onto her

Rachel was about to say something when Olivia appeared at the door

"Liv Ijust need a few words with Katie , I'll be with you soon, just close the door for me love"

Olivia left so Rachel turned her attention back to Katie

"Darling I'm sorry I didn't mean to embarrass you, honestly I didn't" Rachel said

"You're not mad?" Katie asked

"Course I'm not love, I understand you know I was 11 once your at the age when everything begins to change, school, the way people treat you, your body, everything darling if you wanted to buy a few bras all you had to do was ask me I get it honestly I do, your not a little kid anymore and you don't want to feel like one either"

"I'm just sick of people teasing me for it, I can't help the fact I look like a boy, I wish I was like everyone else, I wish I looked older, I wish I had a boyfriend, I wish I had boobs and I wish I could just fast forward time till I'm 16" Katie blurted out before continuing to sob

"No you don't love" Rachel said calmly

"Yes I do"

"No honestly you don't, being a teenager sounds great to you now I know but there's a hell of a lot of crap that goes alongside it, you have so much more to out up with, exams, pressure, hormones running crazy, periods the lot"

"But it's better than looking like a boy"

"Darling your beautiful, yeah you might not have developed yet but neither has half your year however much they like to wear bras 5 sizes too big for them and stuff them with tissue" Rachel joked causing Katie to smile

"There that's better" Rachel said

"I want my mum" Katie mumbled

"I know darling, I get how hard it is especially when your at this age you need someone who you feel comfortable with to help you through all this stuff ... But if ever you need someone to talk to about anything at all you just come to me yeah"

"Yeah okay" Katie sobbed, she didn't know why she was crying like this she just felt really emotional and like stuff had been building up for a while and it was all coming out now

"Come on stay strong" Rachel whispered "dry your tears"

Rachel handed her a tissue, however just as she did the doorbell rang

"I'll just be a sec love" Rachel said before going to the door giving Katie's shoulder a supportive squeeze on the way past.

Rachel quickly went to the door and saw it was her mum suddenly she remembered she'd asked her round for tea "hiya" Rachel said

"Hiya love" Betty said smiling, she walked in and took her shoes off

"You look exhausted dear"

"Oh it's just been one of them days you know, anyway go through to the lounge I'll get tea on but it might be a while, Katie's in there and she's a bit upset so keep an eye on her will you mum"

"Course I will" Betty said "what's up with her"

"Oh you know I think she's just feeling a bit down at the minute, just at that age I suppose"

"I'll have a chat with her"

"Well we've had a talk, you might be better off just leaving it to be honest mum"

Betty went through and saw her granddaughter cuddled into one of the cushions

"Hiya Katie" Betty said

"Hi"

"Everything alright"

Katie just nodded her head in response

"You missing your mum" she asked gently

Again Katie nodded her head

"You know there are loads of people here for you love, you can always talk to me or Rachel especially if there's something up"

"I know"

Betty decided to go and see if her daughter needed a hand in the kitchen figuring Katie needed a bit of time on her own.

"Bloody hell how can it be so hard to chop some carrots up" Rachel said as Betty came In

"Take it your cooking skills haven't improved love"

"You know what sod it I'm calling for a take away" Rachel decided, she quickly grabbed her mobile and ordered a Chinese knowing everyone would like that.

After she'd put the phone down Betty said "Katie's in a bit of a state isn't she"

"Yep and I hate seeing her like that"

"What started it all"

"Well I was looking through her bags today from when she went shopping and she'd bought a bra she seemed really embarrassed about it so I didn't say much but then she just burst into tears and started saying how she wished was was older and everything it must be awful feeling like that, there's such a rush to grow up nowadays" Rachel sighed

"Sounds like it's hormones"

"Maybe she just seemed so upset you know"

"Rach when you were 11 you should have seen the amount of tissues we went through mopping up your tears love, you'd be fine one minute, sobbing your heart out the next and there was still all that pressure to grow up even then, but then you had it the opposite way didn' you"

"Yep I remember that time I came home in floods of tears after my first few days of being year 7 the amount of times boys would say stuff, do you remember I started screaming that I wished I was 7 again" Rachel said laughing at the memory now

"Course I do"

The two women chatted for a bit longer and suddenly Katie came in, her eyes were still red from crying but she seemed calmer now

"Hey love" Rachel said

"Rach I'm sorry for being daft earlier"

"Don't be silly love, your allowed to get upset it's all part of the package of having an 11 year old living with you" Rachel said "come and give us a cuddle" she said Katie went over and out her arms around her aunt

"Thanks for being so nice to me" Katie said "you and gran are the only ones I can talk to since mum"

"Well just you make sure you come and talk to us, no matter how embarrassing or whatever, it's better than keeping it to yourself" Rachel said

She the gave her niece another cuddle before letting her go so she could watch tv for a bit

Please review xxxxxxx

© 2014 Microsoft Terms Privacy & cookies Developers English (United Kingdom)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was about 2 in the morning, Rachel was fast asleep in bed after a stressful day at work, she was just so glad it was finally the holidays and she could relax with the kids for a couple of weeks. Suddenly her door creaked open and Jess walked in, at first Rachel didn't wake up but after Jess tapping her continuously for a good few minutes she eventually stirred.

"What's up?" Rachel asked sleepily

"I'm scared" Jess said

Rachel flung back her cover and let Jess get In with her, she was trying to stop her coming in with her every night but she really didn't have the energy to argue, so she got Jess comfy and put her arms around her.

" what you scared of then?" Rachel asked before yawning

"Just that the man from a few houses away is going to kill me" Jess said, Rachel couldn't help but burst out laughing at this.

"What old mr Davies" Rachel said and Jess nodded her head "darling he might be a bit grumpy but I don't quite think he's going to kill you"

"He's a very mean man Rachel he said earlier ...he said "I'm going to swing for you one day Jessica Ryan" and that means he's going to hit me and your not allowed to hit children you get sent to jail and he called me Jessica and that's not allowed either" Jess explained

Rachel couldn't stop herself from laughing, her niece never failed to amuse her even at 2 in the morning

"Jess he didn't mean ...oh honestly what are you like" Rachel spluttered still rocking with laughter

"Don't laugh at me it's rude" Jess said

"I'm sorry love" Rachel said biting her lip "darling just ignore him next time he says anything, he's getting very old and he doesn't want kids mucking round that's all"

"All I did was drive my scooter ... Into his plant pot"

"Yeah well just you be careful missus"

"Okay" Jess sighed

Rachel was about to turn over and go to sleep but suddenly she remembered something

"Oh yeah before I forget me and you need words" Rachel Said

"What about?" Jess asked sounding nervous

"Well I didn't mention anything earlier because the last thing I want to do is embarrass you in front of your sister and liv but I got a call from school earlier about things"

"Am I in trouble Rachel ?" Jess asked

"No love mrs Thomas just said you seem to be finding things a bit hard at the moment and I was just wondering if you wanted to have a talk" Rachel said trying to watch what she said, although Jess was generally really loud and funny Rachel knew that she could still get upset about things and she didn't want to worry her.

"No" Jess said

"No don't want to talk to me?" Rachel said softly

"Nothing happened I promise I didn't get into trouble" Jess said

"Yeah I know that sweetie it's just if something's happened it's best to talk you know"

"I know"

"And I know that things are bound to be a bit difficult at the moment especially ... especially when you've just lost your parents ..." Rachel began but almost as soon as she mentioned her parents tears began to form in Jess's eyes

"Hey" Rachel said softly "come on it's okay, If your not in the mood for a talk we'll leave it"

Jess didn't say anything but nuzzled her head into Rachel and relaxed against her.

"Aw that's nice Jess not often I get a nice cuddle off you these days"

"I love you Rachel, you're the best aunty ever" Jess said

"Hey where's all this affection come from huh"

"I don't know and I'm sorry about school"

"What's there to be sorry for love?" Rachel asked

"I guess I just find it hard to concentrate sometimes and I'm not that good at some of the work" Jess admitted

"Well that's alright love neither was I at your age, just do your best if you do that no one can ask anymore of you sweetheart"

"So you're not angry"

"I was never angry like I said I just wanted to have a talk away from Olivia and Katie" Rachel said

"Especially katie" Jess muttered

"What's going on with the two of you at the moment Jess, you were so close before but the two of you haven't spent much time together recently"

"Nothing Katie just doesn't like me very much at the moment" Jess said

"Love that's not true, your sister loves you to pieces I think she's just got a bit on her plate at the moment" Rachel Said, it was true Rachel knew that Katie was finding everything a bit difficult recently she'd been coping so well at first but now things seemed to have gone a bit downhill.

"Yeah but whys she so mean"

"She doesn't mean to be nasty to you Jess it's just when you get older you start to have a lot of other stresses so you finish up snapping at people although often you don't mean to"

"Oh" Jess said

"Anyway it's ridiculous o'clock and high time we were both asleep so come on you get back to your bed and we'll both get some sleep" Rachel said hoping Jess wouldn't put up too much of a fuss about sleeping on her own.

"Please can I sleep in here Rachel" Jess begged

"Darling you'll be fine we've got to get this sorted now rather than later, you don't want to get to be Katie's age and still sleep with your auntie do you?"

"I wouldn't mind" Jess said

Rachel sighed she should have known Jess wouldn't give in easily

"Well I would come on I'll tuck you in" Rachel said

Reluctantly Jess followed Rachel through to her room and Rachel tucked her in so she was all comfy.

"Night sweetheart" Rachel whispered giving her niece a soft kiss on the forehead before going back to her own room, Rachel was shattered and fell asleep virtually as soon as her head hit the pillow.

morning seemed to come round extremely quickly and Rachel was awoken by Olivia

"mum its morning why are you still asleep" Olivia said trying to shake her mum awake

"go back to sleep for a bit" Rachel mumbled desperate to get another hour in bed

"I'm not tired though" Olivia moaned

"Well go and watch tv or play for a bit" Rachel said

"Mum why don't you get up now?"

"Because I was up till 3 with your cousin" Rachel replied she then dragged Olivia into bed for a cuddle

Olivia snuggled into her mum and started to relax she always did love coming in for a cuddle first thing on the morning before anyone else was awake.

"You going to play round Chloe's today" Rachel asked, Chloe was one of her daughters best friends and normally they couldn't be separated

"Yep then can she come round here tomorrow" Olivia asked

"Yeah but not till the afternoon love because your sleeping at grandmas tonight aren't you?"

Rachel was going out tonight with some of her friends so she'd arranged for Jess and Olivia to stay at her mums and Katie was going to stay at her friends house

"Oh yeah I forgot"

"We'll make sure your a good girl for her and keep an eye on Jess you know what she's like and grandmas getting far too old to be putting up with her running round madly"

"I will"

The two of them stayed in bed for a little bit longer before eventually deciding to get up and go downstairs

Rachel made herself a Coffee before going to sit in the lounge with her daughter. She put her arm around her and Olivia rated against her, although Rachel would never admit it she always did still enjoy watching kids tv on a morning and often finished up getting fully engrossed in the programme.

They'd been sat for about 10 minutes when the door opened and Katie walked In

"Hiya love" Rachel Said

"Hi" Katie said bluntly

Rachel noticed the tone in her voice but didn't say anything

Before long Jess came running down as well so they we're all in the living room together.

"Katie can you play that game with me?" Jess said before going to sit next to her sister

"No" Katie replied

"Why" Jess asked

"Because it's stupid"

"No it's not please Katie ..." Jess began

"Oh just shut up Jess" Katie snapped

Jess immediately went quiet and started biting her nails, Rachel saw she looked upset so out Jess on her lap, she felt sorry for her as she knew how much Jess hated it when her older sister snapped at her, Rachel decided she'd have a word with Katie later to see if there was anything behind her bad mood.

"See I told you Katie's mean" Jess whispered to Rachel but not quiet enough for Katie not to hear

"Jess do you have to be so bloody annoying all the time? Why don't you just piss off and stop being so irritating all the time " Katie shouted tears forming in her eyes, she felt bad almost as soon as she said it she loved Jess really even though she could be annoying and she hated upsetting her.

Rachel stood up knowing she couldn't let Katie carry on like this "you two stay here" she said to Jess and Olivia "Katie I want a word" Rachel said

When Katie didn't move she said "Katie now"

Reluctantly Katie followed her through to the kitchen

"Right I don't know what's going on but you don't take it out on Jess she was in tears last night because she thought she'd upset you and what I absolutely will not tolerate is you behaving like that towards her"

"But she's annoying"

"Katie she's 6 years old she's just her mum and dad don't you think she could do with some support" Rachel Said her voice softer now

"And what about me? I've lost them too not just Jess why does everyone just care about her and what she wants all the time, what about me" Katie said tears running down her face

Katie quickly brushed them aside and walked out

"Katie" Rachel called "Katie where are you going?"

"To Amy's house" Katie said

"Yeah" Rachel said softly "well you might look a but daft walking round in your dressing gown and slippers"

Katie didn't say anything but stomped upstairs quickly threw some clothes on and came back down

"Katie look let's sit down and talk yeah"

"I don't want to"

"I think that there's a lot going on right now isn't there?" Rachel asked

Katie just shrugged her shoulder

"Right so we need to sit down and talk"

"I want to go to Amy's please let me go I just need some space"

Rachel sighed before saying "okay you can go but come back this afternoon"

"I will" Katie promised before going out the house

Rachel watched as she left she really was worried about her, it seemed like every minute she was bursting Into tears and snapping at people at first Rachel had just put it down to hormones but she couldn't help but worry that maybe there was something else going on

She then went back into the living room, she smiled at The site of the two girls together.

"Right come on you two enough lounging around we're going to go out the three of us" Rachel said

"Where's Katie" Jess asked

"She's gone to her friends love" Rachel explained "don't worry she'll be fine we'll pick her up on the way back" she added when she saw Jess looked worried

"Where are we going mum" Olivia asked

"Where do you fancy"

Olivia was about to respond but Jess got there first

"Ooh can we go to that special farm Rachel the ones where you can touch all the bunnies and stuff" Jess said sounding exciting

"Yeah if you want love" Rachel said a little apprehensively-Rachel never had been a big fan of the outdoors but if it made the kids happy she was fine with it

"That alright with you liv" Rachel asked

"Yeah" Olivia replied

"Okay then let's get changed" Rachel said

She then took the two girls upstairs and made sure they were both dressed in warm, quite old clothes seeing as they were bound to get muddy over there.

She then got changed herself and got the girls in the car.

After about 10 minutes Jess started to get bored so started mucking about a bit

"Jess I'm trying to concentrate quieten down" Rachel said suddenly she looked back and saw Jess had un fastened her seatbelt "Jess get that seatbelt on now" Rachel gasped

Olivia helped her little cousin put it back on

"Honestly if a policeman caught us Jess" Rachel said

Luckily the rest of the journey went by without any more upsets and soon they were at the farm

Rachel got them both out and quickly paid the entry fee, the two girls rushed over to see the cows and Rachel lingered behind a bit and quickly got talking to one of the other mums who was there with her Two kids and a baby

Suddenly they were interrupted by Jess running towards them

"Rachel please please please can we get one there so cute" Jess said

"Get one of what Jess" Rachel asked but she had a horrible feeling Jess meant the cows

"The cows there so cute"

"Jess why do you agave to be just about the weirdest kid ever, why can't you ask for a rabbit or a Guinea pig or something but oh no she wants a blooming cow" Rachel said, the woman she'd been talking to was in stitches at there conversation

"So we can't get one" Jess asked sounding genuinely upset

"Jess just go and play will you" Rachel said still laughing

"Fine poor cows, no one ever wants them I think you're really mean" Jess muttered before walking off

"I bet she's a character" the woman said laughing

"That's certainly one way to out it, pain in the butts another" Rachel said

The two of them chatted for a bit longer before they both went there separate ways

They walked round for a bit longer until they all got a bit tired so decided to sit down on one of the benches for an ice cream before heading off back home.

They were about half way back when Olivia started fidgeting

"Why aren't you sitting still" Jess asked curiously

"I need a wee" Olivia said

Rachel sighed from experience she knew that a car journey and Olivia desperate for the loo was never a good combination

"Mum I have to go" Olivia said

"Darling there's nothing I can do about it, is there? Your a big girl now I'm sure you can hang on" Rachel said "and if you really really need to go tell me, I do not want these seats getting ruined" Rachel added quickly

Olivia tried to hang on a bit longer but soon realised she couldn't

"Mum I need to go now I can't wait"

"Oh why don't you go before we set off Olivia honestly this must happen about 5 times a week" Rachel said

"Well can I get out now and go"

"Not on the middle of a motorway you can't no" Rachel sighed

Luckily she managed to pull in at a nearby service station and quickly rushed Olivia inside and into the toilet.

"There now that's sorted perhaps we can be getting back" Rachel said

"Sorry mum" Olivia mumbled

"Hey I don't mind not really" Rachel said feeling a bit bad for going on at Olivia after all it wasn't really her fault "come on let's get back to the car" Rachel said taking hold of Olivia's hand and leading her back.

Rachel suddenly remembered she needed to pick Katie up so drive to Amy's house, she hoped Katie would be in a better mood now.

Rachel knocked on the door and after a minute or so Katie came out smiling

"Come on you let's get back home" Rachel Said

Katie jumped in the front next to her aunt but turned round to face her sister

"I'm sorry for being horrid Jess and I'm sorry for being horrid to you too rachel" Katie said

"Wow I thought you'd been to a friends house not Lourdes" Rachel said causing Katie to giggle

"I don't know why I've been so tetchy over the last few weeks but I am sorry"

"It's fine love just put it down to hormones" Rachel said squeezing Katie's leg supportively

They quickly drove home and had a nice few Hours together but soon Rachel saw the time and realised it was time to drop them off at her mums and to drop Katie off at her friends house

"Come on kids get in the car" Rachel called

They quickly drove to Katie's friends and dropped her off before finishing off driving to Betty's.

"Hiya mum just us" Rachel called once she'd let herself in.

"Hi darling" Betty said coming downstairs

"Look I've got to dash I'm sorry but any problems give me a call and if either of

them start acting up just let me know"

"We'll be fine won't we girls, you have a nice night love, but be sensible won't you?"

"Mum I'm not 16 anymore" Rachel said giggling "bye girls I'll see you tomorrow"

Both girls shouted bye and Rachel was about to go but suddenly Jess came running In and wrapped her arms Around Rachel

Rachel crouched down so she could give her a proper cuddle "aw that's a nice cuddle Jess"

"Don't go"

"Darling I'll be back first thing tomorrow come on your going to be fine" Rachel said "and grandma knows that ...that sometimes nigh times can be a bit hard so you needn't worry she'll look after you I promise but you make sure your a good girl yeah and any serious problems call the house phone I won't be back late promise"

"Okay bye auntie Rachel love you"

"Love,you too darling" Rachel said before going out

"Right come on you two let's sit down it's ready quite late so have your teas then it's bed time yeah"

"Can't we stay up a bit late grandma" Jess asked hopefully

"Okay but only a little bit, now come on let's go through to the kitchen" Betty said

They all ate there dinner and the Betty got them both bathed and into pyjamas. Betty noticed how quiet Jess had been and this was so unlike her normally if Jess came to stay you'd be completely exhausted by the end of it.

"Jess are you alright love" Betty asked

Jess just nodded her head in response

"You still want to stay up a bit later" she asked

"No I'm tired" Jess replied

"Alright angel come on let's get you to your bed" Betty said leading Jess to her room! Jess always did love it here, her grandmas house was huge and the bedrooms were all really old fashioned and posh so Jess felt like a princess whenever she went to her room.

Betty got her youngest granddaughter comfy before saying "night and god bless Jess"

"Night grandma" Jess said however her voice sounded sad as if she was on the verge of tears

"Jessie are you alright?" Betty asked

Jess nodded her head

"Nothing bothering you"

"No"

"Okay love remember I'm just around the corner if you need anything" Betty said before going downstairs and making Olivia a hot chocolate and sitting with her for a bit before they both went to bed.

It was about 11 when Jess woke up, she sat up for a bit but it didn't take very long for her to finish up getting in a state, she wanted a cuddle off Rachel but she couldn't so she just sat in bed sobbing.

Betty woke up to go to the loo but on her way back she heard crying coming from Jess's room so went to investigate, she soon found her grand daughter in a real state.

"Jess it's me it's grandma what's up love"

"I'm fine" Jess cried

"Come on tell grandma what's up"

"Nothing"

Betty thought for a moment, she knew that Jess might not want to tell her but she couldn't leave her crying and she needed someone to comfort her.

"You want to give Rachel a call" Betty asked knowing her daughter would be able to calm Jess down.

Jess nodded so Betty got the phone and dialled Rachel's number.

"Right I'll go downstairs and get us a nice hot drink and you have a little chat with Rachel yeah"

"Okay" Jess sobbed

At first Betty didn't think her daughter was going to pick up and wondered if she might still be about but eventually she did

"Hello" Rachel said her voice a little slurred

"Rachel is that you" Betty asked

"Course it's me who else will be answering my phone at this time" Rachel said giggling

"Jess wants a word she's in a bit of a state" Betty explained

"Oh what's happened do you want me to pick her up?" Rachel asked worried

"Maybe it's for the best if she's feeling this upset but have a talk she might feel better for that"

Betty called for Jess and she came to the phone

"Rachel" Jess cried

Rachel was shocked when she heard Jess's voice it was obvious how much she'd been crying

"Yeah it's me darling, what's happened"

"I want to go home" Jess said gulping because she was crying do hard

"Alright sweetie I'm going to come for you""Rachel said "just try and calm down for me my love, take some nice deep breathes"

Eventually Rachel did manage to calm Jess down a little bit but decided to pick her up anyway, so ordered a taxi seeing as she still felt pretty tipsy and the last thing she needed was to get pulled over.

"Grandma I'm sorry" Jess sobbed going to sit on Betty's knee

"It's alright dear when your purer like this you need to be at home in your own bed I know"

"Do you think Rachel will be angry with me." Jess asked

"Rachel ? No she won't be angry she's got a heart of gold does my Rachel, she's got a temper on her mind you, well not so much now but you should have seen her in her teen years used to drive me up the wall and most of her teachers for that matter"

"Rachel's never been nasty to me before but she has shouted at me a few times" Jess said "but not very often only when I've done something really naughty" Jess explained beginning to feel a bit better now.

Jess sat with her grandma for a bit longer and about 10 minutes later Rachel arrived.

Rachel quickly let herself in before going into the living room she was glad when she saw Jess was a lot calmer now than she had been on the phone.

"Hey Jess" Rachel said before putting the little girl on her knee

"Rachel please don't be angry, don't shout at me" Jess said starting to cry again

"Hey I'm not going to shout darling, come on go upstairs and get your stuff I'll have to call for another taxi it'll have cost a fortune if I'd have made it wait"

Jess then went upstairs and started getting her stuff

"What's happened mum" Rachel asked once Jess was out of ear shot

"I don't know i just woke up and found her like that, honestly I'd never seen her in such a state"

"Oh dear well I'll get her home and into bed I'm really sorry about all this I didn't think she'd be this bad, we'd got over the really bad nights a while ago now"

"It'll just be because she's not at home so she'll have been a bit unsettled don't be too harsh on her Rach, I think she feels very embarrassed about it all and she was worried about you being angry with her"

"Oh the poor kid why would I be angry? I'm not some child beater you know" Rachel joked causing her mum to laugh

A few minutes later Jess came downstairs looking quite pale and her eyes were all red.

"Taxi won't be here for 15 minutes love so come and have a cuddle for a bit" Rachel said so Jess climbed onto her aunties knee and put her arm around her and soon started to cry again, Rachel started rocking her gently as though she were a baby again

"Shh" Rachel soothed "darling what's happened come on tell your auntie Rachel what's going on"

"I don't feel well and I had a bad dream and then I woke up and I just remembered this used to be mums bed and it made me feel all weird and upset" Jess explained

"Oh darling come on it's okay" Rachel said continuing to rub her Nieces back. Both Betty and Rachel continued to comfort her for a bit until she'd stopped crying, Rachel knew half of it was probably due to tiredness after all she hadn't had a very good sleep yesterday either.

Soon the taxi arrived so Rachel and Jess said bye and walked out, Jess was still in her pyjamas because Rachel hadn't seen the point in getting her changed when she'd be going straight to bed anyway

Rachel decided to get in the back with Jess to make sure she was alright

"You feeling a bit better now sweetie?" Rachel asked

Jess nodded her head before putting head on Rachel's shoulder

It had only been a few minutes hen Jess said "Rachel I really don't feel well"

"Okay love well it's not long till we get home now and then we'll get you some medicine and a nice hot water bottle"

"I think I'm going to be sick" Jess said

"Okay" Rachel said calmly "excuse me would you be able to pull in a minute please" Rachel asked the driver

"It'll cost you extra, while I wait" he said grumpily

"Oh well we wouldn't want you out of pocket would we now" Rachel said sarcastically

"And it'll be £20 extra If she pukes on the seat" he added

"And you're going to have to spend the rest of the night cleaning your precious car out if you don't pull over"

"don't take that time with me love, it's not my fault you went out on the lash and gave the kid too many McDonalds"

"Oh just pull in will you I'll make sure I'll pay you the full amount plus a £20 tip for your helpfulness and politeness"

Jess laughed a bit she found it funny that her auntie was arguing with someone as it wasn't something she got to see that often but suddenly she had to clutch her stomach "Rachel" she said sounding urgent

"Alright I'm pulling in" the taxi driver said

Rachel rolled her eyes and then turned her attention to Jess she quickly got her out the car and over near a bin where Jess started to be sick.

"Oh dear" Rachel said as she held back Jess's hair

"Better now?" She asked when Jess had finished being sick

Jess nodded so they got back in the car.

" I'm sorry you have to pay extra I've got a few 2ps I won at the arcade in my piggy bank I'll go and get them for you if you want" Jess offered

The taxi driver and Rachel couldn't help but burst out laughing

"Your mum doesn't have to pay extra pet sorry I was so blunt before, just been a long day" he said

"Rachel isn't my mum she's my auntie" Jess said laughing

"Aw that's nice so your having a little holiday at hers are you?"

Rachel looked at Jess hoping this wouldn't set her off again but she seemed okay, Rachel was also beginning to feel bad for being snappy with the driver earlier as he actually seemed like a really nice man.

"No I live there my mummy died" Jess explained

"Oh I'm sorry pet me and my big mouth" the driver said apologetically

"It's okay" Jess said "do you like being a taxi driver?" Jess then asked

"Jess" Rachel said

"No she's alright, I suppose I do, it pays the rent doesn't it? And it's nice chatting to folk normally I get on well with them but I didn't come across like that with your auntie earlier though"

"Rachel's normally nice to people to but she didn't come across like that with you" Jess said trying to copy what the man had said causing Rachel to laugh and playfully smack her on the leg.

"Who's that?" Jess asked pointing to a photo at the front

"Jess leave the poor man in peace" Rachel said

"She's fine honest nice having a chat at this time, that's my daughter love" the man said

"She's pretty" Jess commented

"Yeah she is little menace though, just like I bet you are"

The two of them chatted a bit longer but after a while Jess got tired so fell asleep on Rachel

"Nice kid you've got there"

"Hmm you haven't seen her in one of her moods" Rachel said

Before long the taxi swerved onto Rachel's drive, Rachel paid the man and actually finished up leaving him quite a big tip after all.

Rachel decided to carry Jess In as she could easily just put her in bed now she had her pyjamas on but when they were in Jess woke up.

"Rachel" Jess mumbled sleepily

"Yeah love, your back home now see safe and sound come on let's get some medicine for you"

Rachel gave Jess the medicine before going upstairs with her, by now it was really late so they were both shattered

"Rachel please can I go to the toilet" Jess asked

"Course you can darling you don't need to ask permission" Rachel said laughing

Jess quickly went to the loo and then met Rachel on the landing, they started walking towards Jess's room but Rachel could tell how scared she was

"Jess you can come in with me tonight if you want" Rachel said knowing it wouldn't be right to leave Jess on her own after the way she'd been feeling tonight.

"Thanks Rachel" Jess said before starting to cry again but Rachel knew this was probably more out of tiredness than anything

"Alright love come on no more tears, I think it's more because you're shattered now though so let's get to bed yeah"

Jess and Rachel both got into Rachel's large king size bed and quickly fell asleep

Please review xxxxxx


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It was about 8 o clock on a Friday night and Rachel had just got Jess and Olivia off to sleep but she was getting really worried about Katie as she was out at the park with some friends but she'd promised she'd be back for 7.30, she was half thinking about going looking for her but she couldn't exactly leave Jess and Olivia on there own and didn't want them to get out of bed either when she'd just got them settled.

When another 15 minutes passed Rachel realised she'd have to go looking for Katie fearing something might have happened to her even if it meant getting the kids up, however just as she was about to head upstairs she heard the front door open and Katie walked in.

"Katie where the hell have you been I've been worried sick" Rachel said trying to keep her voice down so she wouldn't wake the girls.

"Oh I must have lost track of time" Katie said

"Well it's not on and I'm not having it Katie" Rachel said, she wanted Katie to learn her lesson as there'd been a few instances where Katie had come home later than she had said she would and Rachel didn't want her thinking it was acceptable

"Okay I'm sorry" Katie snapped

"You're grounded for a week and I want your phone" Rachel said, up until now she'd never really had to punish her niece but seen as she was the most authoritative figure in her life at the moment she thought it was important she let her know the boundaries

"Oh that's completely unfair why do you have to be so unreasonable all the time?" Katie shouted

"I'm not being unreasonable, what's unreasonable Is you walking in nearly an hour and a half after you were meant to, so don't you turn this round on me young lady"

"Mum wouldn't ground me" Katie said tears forming in her eyes, Rachel didn't really know what to say to this, Katie would always bring her mum up when she was arguing with Rachel.

"Well I'm not the Same as your mum and maybe we do things differently" Rachel said calmly praying this wouldn't make Katie fly off the handle

"And you never will be the same as my mum, so don't ever pretend you are, you can't tell me what to do" Katie shouted tears falling down her face, she didn't know why she was over reacting like this, everything anybody said was just getting to her at the moment

Rachel was about to respond when they were interrupted by Jess coming downstairs

"What's happened auntie Rachel" Jess asked worried when she saw her sister looking upset

"oh nothing darling don't worry" Rachel said "Katie go to your room we'll talk about it tomorrow when you've calmed down"

Katie ran straight to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her she then went over to her bed and lay down on her stomach and started to sob Into her pillow, she felt so emotional today and her stomach was really hurting, it was times like this when she wanted her mum really badly.

"Come on Jessie back to sleep, don't you be worrying about your sister she's fine, I promise" Rachel said giving Jess a quick smile

"Okay night Rachel love you"

"Love you too darling, I'm going to stay down here for a bit but I'll be coming to check on you in a bit so make sure your asleep"

"Okay" Jess said before going up to bed

Rachel flicked the tv on and watched it for about an hour whilst getting on with some work before making herself a coffee to have while she was reading her book and going up to bed.

Rachel checked on Jess first to make sure she hadn't had a bad dream or anything, she was pleased to see that Jess looked very peaceful and was fast asleep, she then went into her daughters bedroom and was surprised to see her eyes were wide open.

"And what are you doing awake at half ten miss Olivia" Rachel asked

"Would I be able to go for a wee please mum?" Olivia asked causing Rachel to laugh

"Yeah love I think that's just about allowed" Rachel replied, Olivia rushed off to the toilet and then came back and sat down on her mums knee.

"So what are you doing up at this time then"

"Well I had a bad dream, so I woke up and then I needed the toilet but I thought you'd be angry if you knew I was awake so I just decided to hold on"

"Darling you can get up to go to the loo or to get a drink or whatever when I say I don't want you getting out of bed I just mean I don't want you and Jess mucking around till god knows what time on the landing so your shattered the next day but you can always get up if you need to and what do I always say to you, if you have a bad dream you come and get me, I hate to think of you sat up in bed worrying" Rachel said giving her daughter a gentle kiss on the top of the head

"Okay, can I go to sleep now mum I'm really tired" Olivia said

"Course you can darling" Rachel said helping her into bed and getting her tucked in "night love, sleep tight"

"Night mum" Olivia mumbled before going to sleep Rachel smiled and then left her daughters bedroom

She wondered whether to go into Katie's or not bit in the end she decided to

Rachel sighed when she walked in, her niece was asleep but it was obvious she'd cried herself to sleep and she hadn't pulled the covers over herself or anything, so Rachel went and knelt down next to her and pulled a piece of her hair back and kissed her on the forehead before attempting to get the covers over her and with quite a bit of effort she eventually managed it, Rachel had a feeling Katie May have woken up as she was sure she'd seen Katie's eyes open and was now just pretending to be asleep because she didn't want to face her auntie.

"Goodnight sweetie, i didn't mean to upset you earlier, try not to worry I'm not angry at you, I could never get really angry with you, I love you lots" Rachel whispered half wondering if she was talking to herself or Katie could actually hear her, either way her niece didn't respond so Rachel left her to it and turned off the light before eventually getting I to bed herself.

Katie woke up at around 1 she felt absolutely rubbish, her head and stomach were both throbbing and she still felt extremely tearful she crept across to the bathroom and went to the loo but when she did she realised there was blood all over her pyjama bottoms, she rushed across to her bedroom and saw there was blood on her sheets as well, immediately Katie began to panic, she didn't know what to do, but she didn't want to tell her auntie as she thought it would be too embarrassing, tears were falling down her face, she knew she had to sort herself but didn't want to wake Rachel as she didn't want her knowing anything about it as it the moment Katie felt mortified and extremely scared, she quickly stripped her bed and changed her pyjama bottoms before creeping downstairs and shoving her stuff right at the back of the washing machine praying the stuff in there was dirty and therefore Rachel would just put the washing machine on tomorrow and know nothing about it, Katie then snuck back upstairs and opened the airing cupboard and took out a fresh sheet and out it on her bed, and by some miracle she managed to do this without anyone catching her, Katie then went back to the toilet and put some toilet roll on her knickers hoping this would be enough, she was still feeling extremely shaken up and scared, she closed the lid on the seat and sat there for a few minutes and had a cry.

Rachel had woken up by this point and went to see what was going on.

Katie came out the bathroom and got a shock when she saw her auntie, she hoped she wouldn't notice her tearstained face

"Katie is everything alright love" Rachel asked

"Yep" Katie said trying hard not to burst into tears there and then.

Rachel had a closer look at her Nieves face

"Have you been crying?" Rachel asked sounding concerned

"No" Katie said defensively

"Love has something happened, you don't seem your normal self today" Rachel said

"I'm fine"

"Katie I am always here you know if ever you need anything" Rachel said beginning to get a bit worried "I know you thought I was being unfair earlier but ..."

"I said I'm fine, just leave me alone" Katie snapped before running to bed and bursting into tears, worrying about how she was going to get through all this, she was still feeling very scared by it all.

Rachel sighed before going back to bed.

Katie hardly got any sleep she spent most of the night tossing and turning worried about how she was going to keep this from her aunt and feeling extremely frightened by it all

Rachel woke up about 7 she normally used this time to get on with any Kobe because she knew the kids wouldn't be awake for another hour or so, she went downstairs and did a bit of cleaning up and the got the washing out, as she was doing this she noticed a sheet right at the back, she wondered why someone would have put it in there so got it out and saw all the blood on it, she realised at once it must be Katie's and this explained why she was up last night and her weird behaviour and also why she'd been having so many mood swings recently, Rachel wondered why katie hadn't told her about this and also felt worried about her as it was a scary thing for a girl to go through on her own and Rachel wanted to be there for her. She didn't know what to do now as much as she didn't want to embarrass or upset her niece she couldn't let her keep it to hereof as it was too big of a thing for a girl that age and she'd need Rachel's help.

Katie woke up the next morning feeling dreadful, she realised she'd leaked all over her pyjamas again. She quickly threw them in the bottom of the laundry bag and changed, before rushing to her aunts bathroom and looking for some pads, she searched in all the cupboards but she couldn't find any all she found was a box of tampax and she didn't fancy using them, eventually she gave up and used toilet paper again before leaning against the bath and having a cry, having a sudden yearning for her mum.

After a while she walked downstairs to see her auntie. Rachel was shocked when she saw her face, she didn't want to bring it all up yet as would prefer for Katie to tell her herself. She made two hot cups of coffee and went to sit with Katie

"Katie you look dreadful love" Rachel said

"I'm fine"

"Katie you look like you haven't had a moments sleep and you've been crying your eyes out" Rachel said

"I said I'm fine didn't i? Didn't you say you needed to talk to me about me being late home last night" Katie said desperate to change the subject

"Oh that I'd forgotten all about it to be honest love just don't do it again okay"

Katie didn't say anything but leaned into Rachel's chest and started sobbing hysterically, she did t really know why she just couldn't seem to stop crying, but she wanted to stop because she didn't want Rachel pestering her to tell her what's happened.

"Hey come on love it's okay" rachel soothed

Katie tried hard to stop herself crying and eventually she managed it

"Rachel can I talk to you" Katie asked

"Of course you can sweetheart, you can talk to me about anything, anything at all"

"Well...it's just...I...it doesn't matter" Katie said before running upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom

Rachel sighed and decided to give Katie a few minutes before going up after her, she hated seeing her so upset and she also hated the fact Katie didn't feel she could come to her about all this stuff.

Rachel drank the rest of her coffee before going up after Katie

She saw the bathroom door was locked so knocked

"Katie can I have a word, it'll only take a sec, come out a minute love"

Reluctantly Katie followed her auntie through

"Come into my room a minute Katie I want to talk to you about something" Rachel said

Katie followed her auntie through to her bedroom and Rachel closed her door just so there conversation would still be private if Olivia or Jess woke up.

Rachel sat down on her bed next to Katie

"You know love I do understand how your feeling" Rachel said gently

"Rach I'm fine"

Rachel thought for a moment before saying "love I was doing the washing earlier and ... And I noticed there were some sheets and pyjamas at the back covered in blood, now it know for a fact they weren't mine and I doubt very much they were Jess's or Olivia's so ..."

"Rach I didn't want you to know" Katie sobbed

"Why on earth not darling?" Rachel asked

"Because it's so embarrassing and I hate it already" Katie sobbed

"Oh love I do know how your feeling but you could of told me I promise, I know it seems embarrassing now but it's something everyone has to go through ... Well every woman at least as usual men get away Scott free"

"I was scared"

"Which is why you should have come and got me my love, it's something that you need to talk about with someone, preferably your mum granted but over the next few years your going to need someone to talk to about all the stuff that's going to be happening to you and I just want you to know I'm here for you"

"I know"

"To be honest I could tell it was coming anyway ... I mean you're emotions have been all over the place recently haven't they"

"Yeah I suppose so" Katie said trying to dry her tears "Rach what do I do ?"

"What do you mean love?" Rachel asked

"Well I went in your bathroom cupboards earlier ... I know I shouldn't go snooping but I needed some ..you know, but I couldn't find any" Katie explained her cheeks flushing a bit

"Oh right yeah, I don't think I have any in at the moment, normally I just use tampax but you probably won't want to use them for a bit yet, ever since you came here I've been meaning to get some pads you know just in case but I've always forgot, anyway I'll nip to tesco now for some I'll only be 10 minutes so do you want to stay here and keep an eye on those 2 for me"

"Okay" Katie paused for a moment before saying "Rach"

"Yeah"

"After last night well I just used toilet paper again and it was on my sheet this morning I just shoved it in the washing basket"

"Alright love, I'll sort it later when I get back"

"You won't tell anyone will you, not at school or anything"

"Well I wasn't exactly planning on making a special announcement about it next assembly no" Rachel joked "course I won't darling, just between me and you yeah"

"I love you Rachel"'Katie said putting her arms around her auntie

"I love you too darling" Rachel said

They had a cuddle for a few minutes and then Rachel nipped out to get Katie her stuff.

When she got back she quickly found Katie and made sure she was sorted.

"I think it's about time we woke the girls up isn't it"

"Oh can't we keep Jess asleep for a bit longer, it's the only peace we have all day" Katie said

Rachel laughed "true we'll just let them wake up whenever then" Rachel said "You're going going shopping today aren't you Katie?" Rachel asked

"I can't go"

"Why not?" Rachel asked

"You said I was grounded remember"

" oh yeah hmm am I in a nice enough mood to reconsider through" Rachel said thinking that Katie could probably do with doing something nice with her friends after everything that had happened.

"Rachel is it okay if I just stay here today? I don't feel too well"

"Okay love if you're sure you don't fancy going out, I can't promise a very exciting day at home though, homework and tv is the best I can come up with, I've got that plumber coming at any time between 1 and 4 to have a look at that leaky pipe we've got so we'll have to stay in"

"I fancy a day in anyway" Katie said

A few minutes later Jess materialised downstairs

"Hi jess" Katie said going over and giving her sister a cuddle

Jess came over and sat on Rachel knee sucking her thump, she always was sleepy when she first woke up and didn't say much

"Oi get that thumb out your mouth missus" Rachel said

Reluctantly Jess took it out but started scratching her head.

Rachel ignored it for a hike and continued to give her a cuddle but after she'd been doing it for a good 5 minutes she began to wonder what was up.

"Jessie why are you scratching your head like that love?" Rachel asked

"It's so itchy it was last night too"

Rachel sighed praying when she had a look at Jess's head she wouldn't find what she suspected she would.

"Come on let's have a look"

Much to Rachel's horror when she had a look she saw lots of little black things in Jess hair

"Bloody hell" Rachel muttered

"Your not allowed to say that, when I said it you said it was a bad word" Jess said

Rachel ignored her last comment and said "right up to the bathroom, head over the bath I'll get the comb, you've got nits"

Rachel was dreading the next hour she'd spend, she knew exactly how much of a fuss would kick

Up and the mere thought of nots made Rachel want to throw up.

Rachel realised she'd have to nip to tesco for the second time this morning to get some of the special shampoo

"Katie I'll need to go to tesco again keep an eye on things and Jess don't you dare go near anyone else I'm not having a round 2 or 3" Rachel said before running out to tesco and getting the stuff and coming back.

"Jess, come down here" Rachel shouted

When she got no response she realised Jess was probably hiding from her "Katie where did Jess go"

"I don't know she ran away and I've spent the last 10 minutes looking for her" Katie explained

"Right" Rachel sighed "Jess come on, you're going to have to come out sooner or later aren't you" Rachel said

Eventually after much coaxing Jess came out

"Come on let's get this over with" Rachel said taking hold of Jess's hand and leading her to the bathroom and running her a bath before getting Jess undressed.

"Rachel I don't want to go in" Jess shouted as Rachel attempted to pick her up

"Jess just get it come on be a brave girl" Rachel said

"No it'll hurt let go of me" Jess whined as Rachel eventually got her in

"Jess you can't have nits crawling round your hair" Rachel sighed before opening the bottle of shampoo and massaging it into Jess's hair, she then braced herself before getting out the comb and Pulling it through

"Owwww" Jess yelped "stop it, it hurts" she cried

Rachel was anticipating this so ignored it and continued

"Rachel stop" Jess screamed "owww" she cried again but this time even louder than before

"Jess they'll be able to hear you at the other end of the street come on please be a big girl for your auntie Rachel"

"I'm sorry it just hurts" Jess cried

Rachel did feel sorry for her so she gave her niece a big hug despite the fact she was soaking

She pulled through a bit more and luckily Jess stopped her screaming and just made the occasional whimpering noise.

"Rachel I need a wee let me out" Jess said about 10 minutes later

Rachel knew this would just be a plan to get out of having her hair combed and they'd been doing okay up to now

"I'm sure you can wait, I'll only be another 5 minutes" Rachel promised

Rachel continued to tug at Jess's hair till she'd basically got it sorted.

"You've gone very quiet Jess" Rachel said

"I've been for a wee" Jess admitted

"oh Jess why didn't you tell me you had to go." Rachel sighed exasperated

"I did but then you said wait so I tried but then I couldn't"

"Well you should have ...oh you know what it doesn't matter" Rachel sighed knowing there was no way she could win this one

"Come on get out" Rachel said

"Do you want me to leave the bath water in for someone else" Jess asked completely serious

"You know Jess it might be just me, but personally the idea of going in a nit ridden bath that you've had a wee in isn't my idea of heaven" Rachel ado but she couldn't help but laugh at her niece

"Go on your sorted now wrap a dressing gown round you and watch some tv" Rachel said

Jess quickly put her dressing gown round herself and ran downstairs.

Please review xxxxxxxx


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Got a question from jasmine, just wanted to say firstly thanks for your lovely review it's was so nice to read and secondly in this fic Rachel was never a prostitute should have made that clearer earlier sorry

A few weeks later

It was about 12 in the afternoon and Olivia was at school, but she felt sick thinking about it being lunch soon, ever since she'd come back there they'd been some kids who just wouldn't leave her alone, at first she'd just ignored if but now it was getting worse and worse they just wouldn't leave her alone, she was too scared to tell anyone as she thought that it would make everything worse and that no one would believe her anyway.

"Right before I let you go for lunch I want everyone's homework out please" mrs Jackson said

Suddenly Olivia had an idea, she knew she would get into trouble but she really didn't care at the moment

"Olivia" mrs Jackson said expectantly

"Yeah"

"Homework out please"

"I don't have it" Olivia lied

"Really that's not like you" she said suspiciously normally Olivia always had her homework and she never had any problems with it "so where is it"

Olivia didn't say anything just looked at the floor

"I think she's lost her voice miss" one of the girls said laughing cruelly at her

"Right go on you lot go on your lunch" mrs Jackson said "Olivia cold I have a quick word please"

"We'll get you after school Olivia mason" one of the bugs said brushing past her

Soon they'd all gone so it was just Olivia and mrs Jackson

Olivia stayed sat down so Mars Jackson brought up a chair and sat down next to her.

"What's all this about your homework then" she asked but her voice was quite gentle

"I'm sorry" Olivia mumbled

"Okay but your going to have to it for me you do realise that yeah?"

"I'll do it now" Olivia said but a little too eagerly

"Don't you want to go and play with all your friends"

Olivia just shook her head in response. Mrs Jackson was going to pursue but then she decided to leave it, she knew Olivia didn't like being interrogated and if there was something going on she knew she'd probably prefer to talk at home with her mum rather than at school, she knew they'd always been close so Rachel was bound to know if something was upsetting Olivia and would be dealing with it.

"Okay, I'll need to write a note home though and you'll give it to your mum for me won't you?"

"Do you have to?" Olivia asked, she didn't want her mum to get angry with her, if ever teachers had, had to speak to her mum before about her misbehaving she remembered that Rachel was never best pleased with her afterwards.

"You know I have to Olivia, it's how we do things here" mrs Jackson said, she then paused for a moment before saying "is ...is everything alright at home, nothing going on is there"

"No everything's fine mrs Jackson" Olivia replied, it was true there really were no problems at home, it was the one place Olivia could relax.

"Jess and your over cousin are staying now aren't they?

"Yep"

"You get on okay with them?"

"Yeah Katie's so nice to me and Jess is really funny she drives mum crazy though" Olivia giggled

"And half the teachers here as well" she joked

The two of them talked for a bit longer and then Olivia got her homework out.

It was about half way through lunch and Olivia had finished her homework but she didn't want to go out, so she was pretending to still do it, she could do with going to the toilet but she knew that they'd say something if she went out.

Mrs Jackson saw Olivia had her legs crossed and was looking uncomfortable

"Olivia do you need to go to the loo" she asked

"No" Olivia replied sounding nervous

"Well you look as of you do" Mrs Jackson commented "and you also look like you've finished your homework, so go on off you go"

Olivia sighed she knew there was no way out of it so she quickly got her stuff and ran to the toilet, praying no one would see her.

She hid in the toilets for a few minutes but suddenly she heard some girls come in.

"Who's in there" one of them asked knocking loudly on the door

Olivia stayed in there heart beating fast

After a while one of the girls looked under and saw her

"Oh look it's Olivia mason, back from being with miss Jackson now are you, aw is she the only friend you have"

"Leave me alone" Olivia mumbled praying she wouldn't cry in front of them

"Didn't do your homework, are you going to get into twouble" she said doing a baby voice "is mummy going to shout at you"

"Her mums a head teacher, my sister goes to the school, she said she's a right cow" one piped up

"Oh my god really, how sad is that? Imagine living with a teacher? Explains why she finished up

like this though"

Olivia couldn't help it she could feel tears prickling in her eyes

"Aw she's crying the poor didums"

"Leave me alone" Olivia shouted causing them all to burst out laughing

"Alright we're going liv catch you later though" one said

As soon as they'd gone Olivia started to sob, she wanted to be back home with her mum, she wished she could talk about all this with her but she knew she couldn't.

Rachel looked at her watch she, was covering a year 7 lesson today and was actually quite looking forward to it, she always did like to spend time with the kids and hated being cooped up in an office all day. When she looked at the class she had she saw Katie was in at, she smiled to herself thinking of the look on Katie's face when she saw her come in.

Rachel quickly got her stuff together and walked down to the maths block, she hoped there'd be some worksheets left out as the last thing she wanted to do is embarrass herself trying to teach year 7 maths, it had never been one of her better subjects.

"Right okay everyone quiet please" Rachel said walking in and clapping her hands

"Rach ..." Katie began however Rachel quickly cut her off by giving her a glare "I mean miss, what are you doing here"

"I'm covering this class, right we'll miss Johnson's left worksheets for you all so I'd like you all to crack on with them please, any questions ... Do anything except ask me" Rachel said causing everyone to laugh as Rachel began handing them out

"Ain't you any good at maths miss" one of the boys asked

"Well I wouldn't exactly say it's my strongest subject no Elliot " Rachel responded

"What did you teach miss" a girl asked

"English" Rachel said

"Here is that why Katie's mint at English, do you tell her all the answers" Chloe called out.

"Her tell me answers" Katie said laughing

"Is it true Katie's like your niece miss" Someone asked

"Look is this just your plan to get out of maths have a half hour long conversation with your head teacher" Rachel said "maths now" she ordered

The kids stayed quite noisy for a while but eventually Rachel managed to get them quiet and focused however Friday last period was never going to be easy.

Suddenly one of the boys threw something at Katie, so she lobbed it right back however unluckily for her Rachel saw her do this.

"Hey stop that" Rachel said firmly

"Oh my god as if you're saying that to me, did you not see him start it all off" Katie said

"Katie just pack it in" Rachel sighed

"But your shouting at me and I haven't even done anything rach" Katie protested "I mean miss"

Rachel chose to her ignore her not wanting to make a scene in front of everyone

The hour passed quite quickly and everyone was glad to be going home.

Soon everyone had left

"Come on the you let's get going" Rachel said to Katie "oh and when ami going to get it into that head of yours it's miss flaming mason at school" Rachel said causing Olivia to giggle

"There's no way I'd ever cal you that I'd just burst out laughing"

"Well then don't call me anything"

"Fine"

The two of them drove to the primary school,and waited for Olivia and Katie to come out.

Olivia heard the bell go and immediately started to feel sick, she began to wonder how she could escape now she could already see them looking at her.

Olivia got up and started to make her way out through the corridor

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to us Olivia" Cassie said and the rest of them started to corner her

Olivia didn't say anything just started at the ground

"I said aren't you going to say goodbye" Cassie shouted

"Bye" Olivia muttered feeling really sick

"That's better, you've always got to say goodbye to your best friends hasn't anyone told you that"

"Can I go now?" Olivia asked

"Not yet, first you need to give me a hug" Cassie said

Olivia gulped, by now she was shaking violently, she knew she didn't have a choice though, she went and put her arms round Cassie, suddenly Cassie grabbed her skirt and lifted it up so everyone could see her knickers.

"Oh look everyone" Cassie shouted causing everyone to laugh, Olivia blushed bright red "come on what's on them let's have a proper look"

Olivia yanked her skirt out of Cassie's hand tears running down her face

"See you Monday liv" they said brushing past her as soon as they'd gone Olivia grabbed her stuff and ran to her mums car, and quickly got in.

"Hiya love" Rachel said cheerily however then she saw her daughters face "everything alright Olivia?" Rachel asked gently

This was all it took for Olivia to burst into a flood of tears. Rachel exchanged a worried glance with Katie before saying "come on love, climb over to the front, tell me all about it"

Olivia didn't want to tell her mum anything and she was determined not to but after today she did feel like she could do with a cuddle from the one person she truly trusted. She nuzzled her head into her mums chest and began to cry even harder. Rachel just stroked her back and let her have a good cry, however a minute or two later Jess came waltzing in.

"Hi rachel" Jess said

"Hiya Jess" Rachel said whilst trying to comfort Olivia

"What's wrong with Olivia" Jess asked sounding worried

"I think she's just a bit upset love" Rachel said

Olivia began to feel embarrassed so tried to control herself a bit

"Mum I'm sorry" Olivia said

"About what love" Rachel asked, Olivia didn't say anything she realised now she'd have to come up with an excuse about why she'd been crying

When Olivia didn't reply Rachel said "okay darling me and you are going to have a chat at home, hop in the back for me liv" Rachel said knowing Olivia probably wouldn't want to talk in front of everyone.

Olivia stayed silent for the rest of the journey and just stared out the window tears still running down her cheek, she felt exhausted after today and completely humiliated and terrified as well.

Rachel kept looking at her through her mirror but didn't say anything.

As soon as they got home Olivia ran up to her bedroom and changed out her school stuff.

Rachel left it a few minutes before going up

She knocked on Olivia's door "liv it's just mum, am I allowed in?" Rachel asked

"Mum I'm okay go away" Olivia called back not wanting her mum to come in

Rachel sighed before going in anyway

She went and sat down on the bed next to her daughter

"Love what's happened" Rachel asked putting her arm around Olivia

Olivia paused for a moment before remembering something she could use as an excuse but she wasn't sure Rachel would fall for it

"Mum I need you to sign something, I got into trouble today, I was scared you'd be mad that's why I was crying" Olivia lied

"Oh okay what is it?" Rachel asked getting the impression she wasn't been told the entire truth

Olivia delved into her school bag and brought out the letter for Rachel to sign

"Right let's have a look" Rachel said taking it from her daughter expecting something pretty serious after she'd been sobbing her heart out like she had and was quite surprised when it was just about homework

"Love much as I don't want you not doing your homework it's not quite worth getting so upset about

"I'm so sorry"

"Look liv it's not a big deal, I'm not mad just try to do it all on time In future"

"Okay" Olivia said trying to hold back her tears

Rachel waited a moment "you want to tell me the real reason why you're so upset"

"I'm fine"

"Olivia I've known you since you were born, I've seen you every single day since, I know when you're not fine" Rachel said

"Mum honestly I was just tired before I don't feel too well" Olivia said

"You want to have a little rest before grandma comes round" Rachel asked wondering if maybe Olivia had just had a bit of a tiring day and needed a rest

"Yes please" Olivia replied

"Okay" Rachel said softly, she got Olivia comfy and kissed her gently " you know you can always talk to me don't you" she said gently, Olivia nodded her head "no I mean it Olivia I'm your mum and you can tell me anything no matter how bad, or how shocking or how embarrassing you think it is, I'm always here whenever you need me"

Hearing this made more tears fall down Olivia's face, Rachel stroked her cheek gently

"Oh sweetheart, why won't you tell me what's upsetting you hmm" Rachel asked sounding quite desperate

"I'm just tired" Olivia insisted

Rachel stayed with her a bit longer but realised she wasn't get anywhere so just left her to have a little sleep.

Almost as soon as Rachel left her room Olivia began to sob into her pillow,she felt so scared already about Monday and ashamed of everything that had gone on earlier.

Rachel went downstairs and found Katie in the kitchen dosing some homework

"Ah getting homework done on a Friday night i see, I am impressed miss Ryan" Rachel said causing Katie to giggle

"Rach you couldn't ...no it doesn't matter"

"No go on what is it"

"Well could you you give me a hand I'm really stuck"

"I can try though I can't promise anything" Rachel said going over to the kitchen table "come on let's have a look" she said taking hold of the piece of paper and looking at it

"PE homework blimey I am impressed, when I said I wanted homework given from each from each department I didn't think it would quite extend to PE, glad my orders are being listened to though, makes a change from at home"

"I always listen to you" Katie argued playfully "anyway I've got to design a suitable exercise regime for an overweight teenager"

"Right come on then, I think I can just about stretch to that" Rachel said

The two of them spent the next half hour doing it and finished up doing quite a good job

"Thanks Rach"

"No problem just don't go bringing me your maths or French I'll have to bail out if you do"

Suddenly there was knock at the door Rachel knew it would be her mum

"Katie go and open the door for your grandma will you love"

"Okay" Katie said going to the door and saying hi to her grandma before going back to the kitchen

"Hiya mum" Rachel said beginning to make a coffee for her mum

"Hi love"

"Tea will be a bit late I'm afraid I've had a few things to sort out before I could get cooking so apologies for that"

"No problem" Betty said she was used to it by now, tea at her daughters house was never normally there on time

"Rach is Olivia okay now" Katie asked sounding worried

"I don't know Katie she said she wanted a rest so I left her to it, go and check on her for me please love" Rachel said

Katie ran upstairs to go and see Olivia so Rachel and Betty were alone

"What's up with liv" Betty asked sounding worried

"She's not right mum, came home from school crying her eyes out, I tried to have a chat but all she said was she got a note about missing homework"

"Load of rubbish" Betty said bluntly

"Well I know but I can't get to the bottom of it"

"Maybe you don't need to" Betty said quietly

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked

Betty paused for a moment wanting to put this in the right way

"Rach she's a kid, she's going to get upset, she's going to be naughty, she's going to cry her eyes out, it's just what kids do, sometimes you can't look too much into things, though I know that's impossible for you Rach, you've been a natural worried since day 1"

"Hmm maybe you're right, maybe she's just having one of those days you know" Rachel sighed

A few minutes later Katie came downstairs

"Rach Olivia's fast asleep I didn't want to wake her" Katie explained

"Okay" Rachel sighed "right I'm going to go and get her"

"Remember what I said rachel" Betty said as Rachel went upstairs

Rachel was half way up the stairs when she saw Jess sliding some of her toys down the banister and attempting to go down the stairs head first laid on her belly.

"Jess you're going to break your neck get up right now" Rachel said

"But then they'll win the race" Jess protested sounding upset

"What ...oh Jess just get up, a Trip to A&E isn't what I fancy, though since you've been living here I think I might apply for a season ticket" Rachel joked it was true though Jess was always having accidents, she was just so boisterous all the time.

Eventually Rachel managed to get a now very sulky Jess up.

"Why don't you come and see Olivia with me" Rachel suggested, her and Jess got on great so she thought maybe Jess would cheer her up a bit.

"Fine Olivia isn't mean like you, she wouldn't stop me playing a game on the stairs" Jess said

"She also wouldn't stop you breaking your neck"

Jess then followed Rachel through to Olivia's bedroom.

"Liv you going to wake up for me love, grandmas here to see you and I think Jess wants someone to play with and I could do with you occupying her to before she kills herself" Rachel said gently trying to shake Olivia awake

"Olivia wake up" Jess shouted in Olivia's ear

"Jess stop it, you wouldn't like it if someone did that to you while you were asleep would you?"

"I only want her to wake up" Jess sighed

"I know just be a bit more considerate, look to down and see grandma I'll be back,in a minute" Rachel said thinking bringing Jess in here wasn't one of her brightest ideas ever.

"Okay" Jess said before going downstairs, Rachel turned her attention back to Olivia

"Come on darling" Rachel said

Eventually Olivia stirred she saw her mum looking at her and saw she looked worried but she didn't want to go down and see everyone

"Mum I feel sick" Olivia mumbled

Rachel thought for a moment she, decided to listen to her mums advice and just leave her for a bit

"You want to stay up here" Rachel asked

Olivia nodded her head in response

"Okay, I'll bring some tea in later if your feeling better" Rachel said she gave Olivia's shoulder a squeeze and then left to go downstairs again

"Olivia not fancy coming down" Betty asked

"Nope she said she's not feeling well"

Everyone age there dinner but as soon as they were finished the kids cleared off to watch tv.

"Your quiet Rach" Betty said

"Yeah well just thinking you know"

"About Olivia"

Rachel nodded her head, she knew her mum was going to just tell her she was a worried again but there was no use denying it

"Do you want me to have a word" Betty offered

"No she'll be fine" Rachel said knowing that Olivia wouldn't want loads of fuss made over her.

Betty and Rachel chatted for a bit longer before Betty eventually left.

Rachel got herself a large glass of wine and drank it all within a matter of minutes, sometimes she just really needed it. She then walked into the living room to find Jess resting on the sofa watching tv, for once in he life Jess looked relaxed and maybe even a bit tired, Rachel looked at her watch and saw it was 8 so she knew she'd have to get Jess bathed and into bed now

"Jess , let's get you a bath run my love" Rachel said

"Do I have to Rachel?" Jess asked wanting to watch her tv show for a bit longer

"Yeah come on, if your a good girl and have a nice sensible bath you can come down for a bit after but if you decide to be silly so you flood the entire bathroom then it'll be straight to bed"

"She know did flood the bathroom you know Rach" Katie said laughing

"Yes I remember your mum telling me and I can imagine it quite well" Rachel said laughing "come on you" she said

"Can you give me a lift up" Jess asked

"Fine but if I do my back in your responsible got that"

"Yep"

Rachel bent down so Jess could get on her back and carried her up before getting her in the bath, for once Jess was actually quite sensible so Rachel quickly bathed her and got her in pyjamas before letting her watch the end of her tv show and getting her to bed.

"Night Rachel" Jess said sleepily

"Night love you lots Jess sleep tight"

Rachel gave Jess a quick kiss before leaving to go and see Olivia

"Olivia you want some tea" Rachel asked

Olivia shook her head

"Darling you're going to be starving if you don't, come on, coma and have a sandwich at least"

"I'm not hungry mum" Olivia said adamantly

Rachel sighed before saying "okay night night then, hope your feeling better in the morning, I'm sure you will sometimes a good nights sleep is the best cure for anything and in the morning things don't seem half as bad"

"Night mum love you"

"Love you too" Rachel said before leaving her room

Again as soon as Rachel left Olivia began to sob, she couldn't stop going over everything that had happened, everything seemed worse now that she was all by herself in the dark. She really wanted to shout for her mum to come back and give her a cuddle, but she didn't want her to know.

Rachel went back downstairs, she decided to see if Katie wanted to watch a film with her as she was in the mood for a relaxing night in.

"Katie do you want to get a film out love" Rachel asked

"Yeah sure" Katie said, she always did love spending time with her aunt on a nighttime

"Okay I'll go and get us some snacks you find one to watch, but please no horror movies, I'm not in the mood tonight" Rachel said

"Alright Rach" Katie said smiling, she started to look through Rachel's DVDs, she had quite a lot that Katie hadn't seen and that looked quite good, eventually she found one called the black swan, she thought it looked quite good, she also saw her aunt had the boy in the stripped pyjamas and she'd been wanting to see that for ages.

"You found one love" Rachel asked coming back in with crisps, biscuits a glass of wine for her and a can of Pepsi for Katie

"I found two but I can't decided which to watch" Katie explained showing her auntie

"Well there both pretty good, bit I wouldn't say black swan is one you'd want to watch with your auntie, more something to have a giggle about with your friends when your older, put the other one on" Rachel said

The two of them sat together and watched it, both getting really into it, however by the time it had ended both of the had tears rolling down there cheeks.

"Blimey that's finished the night on a happy note hasn't it" Rachel said

"It's awful how could people do that" Katie said

"I don't know love things were different back then anyway, it's really late" Rachel said she then looked down at her watch "bloody hell it's nearly 12 o clock look come on bed now" Rachel instructed

The two of them quickly got got into there pyjamas and went to bed.

Olivia still hadn't got to sleep all she could do was toss and turn, she kept feeling like Cassie and all the others were going to come and get her, tears were still streaming down her face. She felt physically sick with worry, and she was getting really tired, she closed her eyes for a minute or two but before long she fell fast asleep. Almost as soon as she did, she started dreaming though, she dreamt of Cassie and the rest of them getting her. It wasn't long before she woke up dripping in sweat, her sheets were sodden through and she was trying to catch her breath, she tried to control herself but she simply couldn't all she could do was cry.

Rachel had woken up to Olivia's screams and quickly came running, she was upset when she saw the state her daughter was in, she rushed over and crouched down beside her bed.

"Liv look it's me, it's okay love I promise mums here now" she soothed

"Mum I had a bad deem" Olivia sobbed

"I know come on darling it's alright" she said "oh love your dripping In sweat"

Olivia tried to calm down a bit and when Rachel sat down next to her she collapsed into her chest, just as she had when she'd come home from school earlier.

"You going to get up for me sweetie" Rachel said

Olivia shook her head

"Why not?" Rachel asked

"I just want to go to sleep" she sobbed

"I know liv just come and have a chat with me downstairs for a couple of minutes then you can go back to sleep I promise"

Olivia quickly got up

"Love these sheets are soaked through" Rachel said "and so are your pyjamas" Rachel added quietly

"Don't be mad mum" Olivia begged

"Hey I'm not mad darling ... I'm not one bit mad" Rachel said putting her arms round her daughter

"Come on let's get you sorted my love" Rachel said getting Olivia changed and a fresh sheet on.

"Thanks mum" Olivia said gratefully

"It's okay" Rachel said softly, taking a piece of Olivia's hair and tucking it behind her ear "you going to come with me for a little chat" she asked

Olivia nodded so Rachel took her hand am sled her downstairs, they went and sat on the sofa and Rachel out Olivia on her knee.

"Mum I really am sorry" Olivia said sounding frightened

"Oh love there's nothing to be sorry for" Rachel said "but I want you to tell me what's been happening"

"Nothing it was just a bad dream"

"Sweetheart you haven't had a bad dream like that for ages, I know something's happened and I also know your scared to tell me what it is but if you tell me I promise we can fix it"

"Mum I can't" Olivia sobbed

"You've been doing a lot of crying today love haven't you huh"

Olivia nodded

"Love whatever this is I'm not going to be mad, or shout, or anything like that I can't bear seeing you like this" Rachel said

"Mum if I tell you ... You can't tell anyone"

"Okay"

"Promise" Olivia asked

"Yeah okay I promise"

"At school there's been all these people and they stay stuff to me all the time, every time I walk into school they start shouting things at me, and sometimes the boys hits me and things, and I'm too scared to go out at break or lunch because they get me into a corner and circle around me and they'll shout, but then they'll just stay there and I get so scared, and then today it was just worst than it was before I wanted to stay in at lunch and that's why I said I didn't have my homework but then miss Jackson made me go, so I went to the toilet but they found me and they started saying all this stuff, and after school she grabbed me and she got my skirt and she pulled it up, so everyone saw" Olivia cried

"Oh Olivia why didn't you tell me" Rachel whispered

"I thought you wouldn't believe me"

"Of course I believe you Olivia" Rachel said wrapping her arms round Olivia protectively feeling tears form in her own eyes "how longs it been going on for?"

"Ever since we got back"

"God to think you've had to go through all this though, all on your own" Rachel said "I'm going to fix it for you darling, I promise I am"

"How"

"I don't know but I'll find a way, I'll do anything if it means keeping you happy, even if that means moving to a different school"

"I love you mum"

"Oh sweetheart I love you too, so so much"

"Can I go to bed now mum" Olivia asked feeling sleepy

"Yeah okay love, you fancy coming In with me for tonight"

Olivia nodded her head so Rachel took her up and got her comfy, however soon after Jess came in

"Rachel" Jess whispered

"What on earth are you doing out of bed at this time" Rachel sighed

"Can I come in with you" she asked

Rachel couldn't be bothered protesting so let her in even though now it was really quite squished with both Olivia and Jess in the bed.

" I couldn't get back to sleep" Jess explained "why's Olivia in here"

"Go to sleep Jess" Rachel whispered

"But why is she"

"She wasn't feeling great"

"Oh has she got a poorly tummy because ..."

"Jess if you don't go to sleep you'll have to go back in your own bed because I'm shattered" Rachel said

"Can't I go and play with my toys" Jess asked

"Jess I'm not going to tell you again" Rachel warned desperate to go to sleep

"But I can't sleep" Jess whined

"Well then you'll have to stay awake but be quiet about it" Rachel said exasperated she was never normally this fussy if Jess came in and would often chat to her for a while but she just felt so tired

"I need a wee" Jess told her

"Then go to the toilet" Rachel sighed wishing she hadn't let Jess in now

"But I can't go in my own it's scary in the dark, will you come with me"

"Jess of you think I'm moving out this bed I can tell you now you e got another thing coming"

"Can't I just use you en suite then"

"No because the toilet in there's broken because you shoved one of your barbie dolls down it remember hence why I'm having to fork out £50 to get it unblocked" Rachel said but she couldn't help but laugh despite how she was feeling.

"But I have to go"

"Look Jess go to the loo, don't go to the loo I'm really not bothered just keep this shut" she said pointing to Jess's mouth

"Fine I'll wait"

"Okay but I'll be annoyed if I have to get up to change the bed sheet" Rachel warned

Jess did shut up for a few minutes then but Rachel could feel her jiggling her leg up and down and knew what would happen if she didn't get up

"Right up" Rachel said she quickly got up and took Jess to the loo

"I can't believe I'm having to do this when your 6 Jess" Rachel sighed "go on be quick and I mean quick Jess" Rachel said

Jess went to the loo and then went back to bed, fortunately she went straight to sleep as did Rachel.

Morning soon came round and everyone felt really tired, Olivia still had red rings round her eyes from where she'd been crying.

Rachel and Olivia were the first to wake up so Rachel put her arms round her daughter "how you feeling today love" Rachel asked

"A bit better" Olivia told her

"Good, and I did mean what I said about getting it sorted you know"

"I know, but don't tell anyone else"

"I won't but you do realise I am going to have to speak to mrs Jackson don't you Olivia"

Olivia nodded her head, she had been expecting this but for now she was just happy having a cuddle off her mum.

"How come Jess is in here" she asked

"Oh she couldn't sleep, she was driving me crazy last night liv"

"She always drives you crazy" Olivia said giggling

"True but you have to admit she's cute while she's asleep it's just when she wakes up that's the problem" Rachel said laughing

The two of them stayed chatting for a bit before eventually everyone woke up

**Please review xxxxxxxx**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Few weeks later

Rachel was eating dinner with Olivia and Jess, Katie was sleeping at her friends for the night so it was just the three of them, Rachel was feeling quite tired so after she'd got the girls to bed she was planning on getting a few things for school done and then having an early night.

"Rachel when can I get married" Jess asked causing Rachel to laugh

"what?" Rachel asked wondering where on earth this could be leading however with Jess you just didn't know

"Well Joseph at school asked me to marry him but I wanted to check with you first" Jess explained, both Olivia and Rachel burst out laughing

"Oh no Jess you didn't need to check you just go ahead my love me and Olivia will meet you after the plane for the honeymoon won't we liv" Rachel said nudging her daughter, she was glad to see that Olivia smiling again she was so pleased things at school were better now and her daughter was back to her usual happy self.

"Okay I'll tell him on Monday then" Jess said "Rachel can we watch a film tonight please" Jess asked hopefully she always did love having a night in watching a movie with her auntie

"Jess it's nearly 8 already if we watch one now you won't get to sleep till 10 and that's far too late for you, I know what your like the next day"

"Please Rachel" Jess begged

"Please mum I won't get tired I promise" Olivia said

"Well I can't fight the two of you can i" Rachel said laughing

"Can we watch sex and the city"

"No we can't Jess" Rachel said instantly

"Rachel what is sex" Jess asked Rachel sighed this wasn't really something she wanted to get into at the moment, with neither of the two girls

"Something that we'll talk about when your older" Rachel said quickly "anyway why don't we watch legally blondes I bought it today and I know you'll both like it"

The girls liked the sound of this so they all sat down in the living room to,watch , after just an hour Of the film Rachel turned round and saw Jess was fast asleep and Olivia wasn't far behind

"Right come on girls bed" Rachel said funding off the tv

Both girls were so tired neither of them out up much resistance and sleepily followed Rachel up to bed.

"Jess come on go to the toilet and brush your teeth" Rachel said, Jess did as she was told and then got straight into bed and closed her eyes

Once both girls were in bed Rachel went downstairs for a little while however soon the phone started ringing

"Hello" Rachel said half expecting it to bed Katie saying goodnight or something

"Rachel" Rachel recognised the voice immediately and it caused fear to flood though her body, she knew it was her ex husband

"Danny is that you" Rachel said

"Yep it's me"

"Why are you calling? What do you want?" Rachel asked panicking

"Woah same old Rachel then panicking about everything, relax I'm not about to come and keep you captive or anything I'm ringing about liv"

"What about Olivia" Rachel asked icily

"When can I see her"

"Oh no you don't do this to me... You left and since then we haven't heard a word from you, you don't care about Olivia, do you have any idea of the struggles she's had over the last year,and have you been around for any of it, oh no you've been going off with your bloody mates done the pub so don't you dare think you can call up and expect me to pack her bags and ship her off to yours don't you bloody dare Danny" Rachel yelled before hanging up the phone, she had felt herself loose her cool but she couldn't help it, he had just made her blood boil.

"Mum was that daddy" Olivia asked, Rachel was shocked when she spun round and saw her daughter she hadn't heard her come down

Olivia ran over to her mum and put her arms around her

"Yeah it was" Rachel said knowing there was no use lying her daughter would pick up on it in an instant

"Can I see him" Olivia asked immediately excited Rachel sighed she should have known this was coming

"Come and sit down love" Rachel said sitting Olivia down on her knee "yes he did ask to see you"

"Really when can I go" Olivia squealed

"Oh darling I don't know"

"Well why didn't you ask him"

"Liv you know what your dads like...the thing is I'm not sure I'm happy about you staying with him at the moment" Rachel explained

"But he's my dad mum, I love him even if you don't and I can't believe your going to stop me seeing him, he loves me and ...and ..." Olivia said

"Liv just calm down"

"No it's not fair, I'll hate you if you stop me seeing dad" Olivia screamed before running upstairs to bed

Rachel sighed she knew she should have handled that better Olivia was so sensitive about her dad and she hated it if either Rachel or Betty started slagging him off. She began to think about things rationally, she knew Olivia would be safe over there and maybe it was right for Olivia to spend some time with her dad.

After a little while Rachel went back upstairs, she knocked on Olivia's door and when she got no answer walked in

"Go away" Olivia said

"Hey liv I've just come to say if you really want to see dad I'll help and I'm certainly not going to stop you I'm sorry for earlier" Rachel said

"So I can see him"

"Yes love if that's what you want" Rachel sighed before grabbing the phone and calling Danny dreading the next few minutes she was going to spend taking to him

"Danny it's me" Rachel said sharply "look I have no intention of making small talk basically I've spoken to liv she wants to see you, when's convenient for you" Rachel asked trying to make it as brief as possible

"Tomorrow"

"Oh great to see your plans are as well thought out as ever"

"She can stay the night too obviously then you pick her up Sunday"

"No she can stay the night but you can get up off your backside and drop her off Sunday" Rachel snapped

"Fine, bloody hell your a snappy cow" Danny remarked

"Look just shut up and tell me what time your coming at"

"10"

"Where are you taking her"

"Ibiza where do you think?" Danny joked "frigging hell what is this an interrogation, I don't know we'll see where we both fancy"

"Fine" Rachel snapped before hanging up again feeling angry, she took a moment to calm herself down before heading back into Olivia's room and sitting on her bed

"Right I've sorted it, your seeing him tomorrow and sleeping at his, is that alright with you"

"Tomorrow" she asked shocked

"Yep"

"Okay" Olivia said before slipping under the covers

Rachel quickly said goodnight before going back downstairs and poring herself a large glass of red wine she was definitely in need of it, before going up to bed and quickly going to sleep.

It was about 6 and Olivia woke up suddenly she started feeling really sick and nervous so decided to go into her mums bed for a cuddle, she hoped Rachel wouldn't mind as she normally did like her lie in on a Saturday

Rachel was half asleep when Olivia came in but she woke up and pulled Olivia in for a cuddle

"Morning sweetie" Rachel whispered

"Morning mum" Olivia said beginning to relax in her mothers arms it was the one place she felt truly safe.

"How are you feeling, are you excited to see dad"

Olivia nodded her head however Rachel wasn't convinced

"It's okay to be nervous you know, it's been a while since you last saw him and you've changed a lot"

"I do want to see him but ..." Olivia began

"But what love" Rachel persisted

"What of he doesn't like me" Olivia said

"Olivia it is impossible for anyone not to like you and you know why"

"Why?" Olivia asked curiously

"Because you're you, your beautiful and funny and clever and most importantly your his daughter liv" Rachel said

"I guess"

The two of them stayed quiet for a bit and Olivia finished up going back to sleep

At about 8 everyone started waking up and getting dressed

"Rachel" Jess said running into her aunts bedroom looking worried

"What's up love" Rachel asked concerned

"Rory's gone I can't find her anywhere" Jess told her aunt nearly in tears, Rachel smiled to herself slightly, Rory was Jess's cuddly lion and Rachel knew Jess couldn't sleep a wink without her, Rachel had bought her it as a present for her 1st birthday and ever since then Jess took it everywhere.

"Oh well we can't have that can we, come on let's go and find her" Rachel said lifting Jess up and carrying her across the hall and into her bedroom.

They began to search for her and both of them began to get a bit worried, Rachel knew if Rory was missing she'd have to look in every toy shop going till she found an identical replacement.

"Oh here it is" Rachel said looking under the bed "how on earth did she finish up there huh" Rachel said

Jess grabbed hold of it and gave her a big hug

"Hey how come I never get that level of affection" Rachel asked causing Jess to giggle "right now the two of you are reunited I'll leave you to get dressed shall I" Rachel said before going to check Olivia was getting ready.

Rachel went into Olivia's room and was surprised to find her daughter already dressed in her leggings and the top she normally saved for special occasions. She was even more surprised when she saw her daughter seemed to have shoved something down her top to make it look as though she had a chest.

Rachel went and sat down next to Olivia

"Darling do I need to be worried"

"What" Olivia asked

"Well if you've suddenly developed double D boobs in the last 20 minutes I think that's a cause for concern and we'd better get you to the doctors" Rachel said causing Olivia to laugh slightly, Rachel put her hand down her daughters took and took out all the tissue

"Right young lady can I have an explanation" Rachel said however her voice didn't sound angry

"I wanted dad to see how much if grown up, he didn't like me that much when I was little because he found little kids annoying ... I heard grandma say that once but I thought if he saw I'd grown up loads then maybe he'd like me more" Olivia explained "don't be cross with me mum"

"Oh liv" Rachel sighed pulling her daughter in for a cuddle "look your dad will love you, you don't need to change yourself for him to love you, and I think even Danny would be slightly shocked if he saw his 8 year old had turned into a fully developed women since he last saw her" Rachel said smiling slightly

"Maybe he would" Olivia said

"Come on then love why don't you out another top on, I don't know where you'll be going and I don't want that one getting ruined, grandma bought you it and it cost a blooming fortune" Rachel said

Olivia sighed and took her top off and changed it for another one

"That's better now I've got to nip to tesco for a few bits and pieces so you and Jess had better come to" Rachel said not particularly looking forward to going as Jess would normally go crazy and tesco and finish up wheeling the trolley out of control and finish up knocking everything down

"What if dad comes while we're out though" Olivia asked suddenly feeling worried

"He won't love and if he does he'll wait won't he"

Reluctantly Olivia got in the car with Jess and they drove to tesco

"Now I don't want to be very long so just be sensible and stay with me okay" Rachel said aiming this particularly at Jess "you hear that Jess" Rachel said looking at her niece in the mirror

"I'm always good" Jess said causing Rachel to raise her eyebrows "well I am if I get chocolate for being good" Jess added craftily

"No Jess you've had more than enough rubbish over the last few days"

"Okay but then I can't promise I'll be good" Jess said mischievously

"Well how about this, if you're a good sensible girl you can play out with Lucy next door, but if you're not then you can spend the day inside and you won't be allowed to watch any tv, that sound fair" Rachel asked knowing this would be enough to persuade Jess, however she had no intention of making Jess stay in all day, any dad when you had to have Jess with you for a full day was enough to drive anyone crazy.

"Okay" Jess sighed "when's Katie coming back" she asked

"I don't know she said she'll text me" Rachel said hoping that Katie would text her soon as she hated having to wait in all day in case she texted her asking her to pick her up.

"Rachel" Jess said

"What" Rachel replied

"Can I sit in the trolley so I can go for a ride" Jess asked

"No you can't"

"Why" Jess whined

"Because you'll start screaming kicking up a massive fuss, so everyone will turn and stare at us"

"But you let me last time" Jess argued

"Yes Jess hence why I'm not letting you do it again, from experience I know it's not a good idea"

They finished there drive and much to Rachel's surprise actually ended up having a pretty up eventful trip out so they were back home pretty quickly.

Rachel looked at the clock and saw it was nearly 10 she sighed realising that Danny would be arriving anytime now.

Sure enough just a few minutes later there was a knock on the front door, Rachel waited a moment and went to answer it.

"Come in" Rachel said bluntly not wanting to make an effort to make conversation

"Hiya Rach how are you? You're looking fantastic" Danny commented

"Let's the the niceties shall we?" Rachel said "Olivia your dads here" Rachel called hoping her daughter wouldn't be too long

"Oh I can't wait to see her" Danny said

"You sure you'll recognise her after 2 years" Rachel said

Danny chose to ignore her and soon Olivia came running down the stairs

"Oh my god it's my little girl all grown up" Danny said causing Rachel to roll her eyes

"Should we get going" Danny asked and Olivia nodded her head excited

Rachel wrapped her arms around Olivia and gave her a big hug

"Bye darling have a nice time, and any problems you ring me okay"

"Bye mum love you lots"

"Love you too"

"Come on then" Danny said however on the way out he tripped over the mat near the door "shit" he muttered under his breath however he wasn't quiet enough for Rachel not to hear

"Generally I'd prefer you not to swear in front of the kids" she said unable to resist having a little dig

Danny just rolled his eyes and left

Rachel couldn't help but feel anxious, she always did even if Olivia had just left to go for a sleepover with her friends.

"Rachel why aren't you with Danny any more" Jess asked curiously

"We just weren't getting in so well" Rachel explained she always did hate discussing her husband and there relationship

"Were you sad" Jess said

"At first I was I suppose but you get over it" Rachel sighed "anyway what do you fancy doing today, Katie wants picking up now so how about we go somewhere once we've picked her up" Rachel suggested not really wanting to stay home all day

"Can we go to the park"

"Yeah I think we could manage that, it's a lovely day as well" Rachel said, she soon got Jess ready and in the car and began to drive to Katie's friends house

"Rachel do you mind me living in your house" Jess asked randomly

"What? Course I don't darling I love having you" Rachel said

"Even though I'm not always good"

"Even though you're not always good, what child is anyway"

"Miss james said I was possibly the loudest most hyperactive child she'd ever met" Jess said causing Rachel to laugh

"Miss james wouldn't be wrong then"

"Am I really loud"

"Yes Jess yes you definitely are" Rachel said laughing the two of them chatted for a bit longer and then they pulled in and Katie saw her aunt so came running out

"Hi Katie did you have a nice time" Rachel asked her niece

"Yep it was really good, Chloe's mum was having a little party with some friends and they were having cocktails and champagne and she let us have a glass each"

"Did she, I'll have to keep my eye on you then young lady I don't want you stealing glasses of my champagne" Rachel joked

"I won't it was minging" Katie said laughing

"Anyway me and Jess are going to the park, you fancy coming with us"

"Is there any other choice" Katie said knowing her aunt had a thing about everyone going out together

"Not really, I'm not planning on driving back home to drop you off" Rachel said

Katie suddenly noticed her cousin wasn't in the car with them

"Where's Olivia" Katie asked

"Having a day out wig her dad, she's sleeping there too" Rachel explained

"Oh god really but Danny hasn't seen her for ages, will she be okay" Katie asked

"He's her dad course she'll be okay" Rachel said not really wanting to talk about it any more

They drove the rest of the way to the park and Jess immediately went off and started playing on all the stuff so it was just Katie and Rachel

"Rach I wanted to ask you something but don't get mad okay"

"Okay I won't" Rachel promised

"Well it's just you know Luke"

"Yeah the one you never stop going on about" Rachel joked causing Katie to blush

"Well he's kind of asked me to go out with him to the cinema tonight, can I go?" Katie asked sounding nervous

"As a friend or ..."

"Rachel!" Katie said not wanting to discuss this too much

"I'm sorry darling I'm just interested that's all course you're allowed to go" Rachel said

"Thanks Rach"

"That's alright love just make sure ..." Rachel began however then she saw what Jess was Doing "wait a minute love ...Jess stop that" Rachel called when she saw Jess was attempting to hang upside down from one of the bars and knew this was going to end in tears

"Honestly I can't take my eye off her for one second" Rachel sighed "Jess get down now" Rachel said

"I can't I'm stuck" Jess shouted sounding panicked

"Oh god" Rachel sad rushing over and helping her down

"What have I told you Jess you've got to be sensible" Rachel said

"I'm sorry" Jess said she was about to go off again but Rachel stopped her thinking it best if they all go for a walk for a bit hoping that way Jess could keep out of trouble

"Rachel can I go for a swim in the river" Jess asked "I don't need armbands anymore, I'm really good"

"No you can't go swimming in a freezing river which is probably full of rats and all other horrid things you are going to stay next to me where I can see you"

Jess sighed she hated not being allowed to do what she wanted

"I have a tummy ache" Jess told Rachel

"Dangling upside down for 10 minutes after having that ice cream might have something to do with it Jess" Rachel said

They continued walking for a bit longer but Jess was actually in quite a lot of pain so they decided to head back

Once they were in the car Jess fell asleep, she was still feeling quite tired from having stayed up late last night

"Right hopefully she'll feel a bit better for having a sleep" Rachel said

"Normally she does"

Once they were home Jess did feel a lot better.

Olivia was at home with her dad but all she could think about was how much she wanted to be home, they'd started off okay and had gone shopping and Danny had let her get her ears pierced, even though Rachel said she couldn't have them done till she was at least 10, but ever since she'd got home he'd just been completely ignoring her.

Danny had left Olivia in the living room to watch tv while he got on with stuff

She stayed hours until it got to about 8, Danny came in then "liv one of my mates asked if I could meet him down the pub you'll be okay here for a couple hours won't you I'll be back by 10 promise"

Olivia didn't really want to be left but she didn't want to annoy her dad so nodded her head in response

"Okay"

Suddenly Olivia realised how hungry she was, she'd only had the bag of crisps her dad had got her for lunch but since that she hadn't had anything since she was starving

"Dad I'm a bit hungry can I have some tea" Olivia asked

"Oh sorry darl I forgot about that, there should be some stuff in the fridge if not I'll leave money order a take away yeah"

"Okay" Olivia said Danny quickly kissed her goodbye and then left Olivia alone, Olivia ran to the fridge and managed to find some cheese and bread so ate that.

After a while Olivia heard the phone go she wasn't sure if she should answer it but in the end decided to

"Hello" Olivia said

"Oh hiya liv it's mum"

"Hi mum" Olivia said

"Are you okay love? Have you had a nice time" Rachel asked

"Yeah thanks" Olivia said Rachel couldn't help but noticed how flat Olivia sounded

"Oh good darling are you getting ready for bed yet" she asked

"Yeah"

"Okay love well I was just ringing to check up on you and say goodnight, so I'll see you tomorrow love you lots" Rachel Said

"Love you too"

Olivia then out the phone down and began to cry a little bit she decided to go and get dressed and go off to bed, it felt weird not having Rachel come up with her to make sure she brushed her teeth and went for a last wee, although she always complained to Rachel about it saying she wasn't a baby anymore she did like it really and loved it when her mum tucked her in and gave her a goodnight kiss.

Olivia got into bed and tried to go to sleep but she couldn't help but feel scared, she tossed and turned but couldn't get to sleep, she was so worried

Her dad didn't get in till 12 but Olivia was still awake, she was going to run down and give her dad a hug but suddenly she heard a woman's voice she heard he'd laughing and follow her dad upstairs and she heard them go into her dad's room, she wondered who she was as she'd never seen this woman before, she needed a wee but didn't want to annoy her dad or the woman, so decided to hold on even though she was really desperate, she prayed she'd be able to hold on till morning but she wasn't so sure, she was so desperate to be home now and wished her mum could come for her.

Suddenly Olivia realised she couldn't hold on any longer but she could hear her dad and the woman so she didn't want to get up, but she realised she didn't have any other choice however just as she was about to get up she realised she'd left it too late, she began to cry into her pillow worried about what to do, she decided to leave it till morning and then sort it out.

After a while she drifted off to sleep and didn't wake up until morning, she quickly shoved her pyjamas in her little bag and got dressed for the day, she quickly sorted her bed out and made it up trying to do it as neatly as possible.

Olivia then ran downstairs to see her dad

"come on then love let's get you back home" Danny said

Olivia ran upstairs to get her stuff and jumped in the car.

The drove back was a bit awkward but eventually Danny pulled up on the drive quickly went in and as soon as she saw bed mum ran into her and put her arms around her so glad to bed home

"Woah steady on do you want to knock me flying" Rachel said laughing "hiya darling" she then said

Danny followed her in

"Hi" Rachel said icily

"It was great having her, she's a nice kid" Danny said "we had loads of fun didn't we liv"

Olivia nodded her head in response not knowing what else to do

"Now obviously me and you have some stuff to discuss Danny so shall, we go in the kitchen"

"What's to discuss" Danny asked

"Well we need to come to some arrangement about Olivia"

"Whoa steady on...I can have liv now and then but Rach I've got too much going on in my life I can't have a kid to loom after" Danny said causing Rachel's anger to bubble

"Oh well far be it for us to inconvenience you" Rachel said "you know what Danny why don't you just go, we don't need you and I certainly won't have you whisking liv away out the blue and then disappearing off again, I won't have her upset you get that"

"Well I'm fine to have her a few nights in summer or whatever"

"Oh wow you after father of the year award... Just get out will you and don bother coming back and I mean that"

Danny sighed and then stomped out

Rachel tuned to face Olivia who by now was crying "oh liv" Rachel said wrapping her arms around her daughter lovingly

"Does he not want me" Olivia asked

"No darling course he does he's obviously got a lot going on that's all, come on let's go upstairs for a chat" Rachel said

Olivia followed her mum up and immediately collapsed down on her bed and began to cry

"Like that is it" Rachel asked gently before going over and squeezing Olivia supportively

Suddenly she realised Olivia's ears

"Oh god, your ears" Rachel said shocked

"I'm sorry mum he said I could get them done don't be mad, I'll take them out" Olivia cried

Rachel rolled her eyes "no darling you don't have to, they look nice it's just you know I wanted you to wait till you're a bit older but never mind" Rachel sighed

She then began to unpack Olivia's things and came across her pyjamas, she realised what must have happened and knew Olivia wouldn't want to talk about it "oh these are for the wash I see" Rachel Said however this was enough to make Olivia burst into tears

"Oh love" Rachel said sitting on Olivia's bed and putting her on her knee "what's up" she asked

"I'm sorry"

"Don't be darling it doesn't matter, dad wasn't angry with you was he"

"I didn't tell him"

"Okay" Rachel said quietly "what's upsetting you so much then hmm?"

"Mum it's well.."

"Go on darling take your time" Rachel coaxed

"Last night ... I was by myself for a few hours and then dad came home and he had this woman with him they went up to his room, and I was too scared to get out of bed even though I needed the loo" Olivia explained

"Wait hang on ...he left you on your own" Rachel said shocked

Olivia nodded her head in response

"Oh wait till I get my hands on him" Rachel said furious

"What Re you going to do mum" Olivia asked scared

"I'm going to make sure you never sleep there again that's for sure"

"I don't want to anyway" Olivia admitted

"You know something love if he wants to treat you like that then he's not worth it honestly he's not"

"I know" Olivia said glad to be safe in her mums arms

They stayed cuddled up for a few minutes

"You look shattered love, how about you have a little rest" Rachel suggested

"Okay" Olivia agreed, Rachel got her comfy and it didn't take long for Olivia to get to sleep, Rachel kissed other on the forehead before leaving her room to get on with other stuff

Please review xxxxxx


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was midnight and Rachel was just finishing up in the study after spending almost her entire evening trying to catch up on paperwork and some marking. She'd started teaching a few year 12 classes a few weeks back and as much as she loved it she felt like the workload was twice as bad as it normally was. She could feel her eyes start to close and realised if she was going to get through this last half hour of work that needed doing for tomorrow she would need a coffee to keep her going.

Rachel had been downstairs to get her coffee and had just sat back down in her chair, when she heard footsteps. She thought it'd just be one of the girls going to the loo or something so didn't bother to get up to check but then she heard someone knocking on her bedroom door.

"I'm through here" she called

After a moment or so the study door opened and Jess was stood there

She walked straight over to her aunt and sat down on her knee

"What's up love?"'Rachel asked while filling out a form

"I feel sick" Jess said it was true Jess hadn't felt right all night but Rachel didn't believe her assuming she was just trying to get a Friday off tomorrow

"Jess why is it every Thursday night you seem to develop some illness or other, I have picked up on it by now you know" Rachel sighed

"I really do feel Ill though" Jess told her tears beginning to form in her eyes however Rachel was too distracted with her woke to notice them

"Well you'll feel better after a good sleep ... Go on go back to bed"

"Okay" Jess mumbled sounding sorry for herself

She climbed off her aunties knee and went back to her own bedroom and pulled the covers over her however her stomach was hurting her a lot.

Rachel immediately began to feel bad for not having a proper talk with her it was just she was so busy and she knew Jess would finish up in her bed if she stayed with her.

Rachel worked for another half hour or so but eventually gave up and went to bed straight away and fell asleep.

By the time morning came she was completely shattered and felt like she could do with an extra couple,of hours in bed, it was still early but Jess came straight into her room in tears

"Oh Jess what's happened love?" Rachel asked gesturing for her niece to some and lie next to her

"I really don't feel well, I promise I'm not lying everything hurts" Jess cried praying her aunt would believe her, however it only took Rachel one look at Jess to know she wasn't right

"Yep I can see that Jess, come on have a lie down I'll have to see what I can do about getting someone to look after you, might mean a day at grandmas though" Rachel sighed before picking up the phone to call her mum, however when she picked up it turned out Betty was feeling Ill as well so couldn't look after Jess

Suddenly Jess began to feel really sick she tried to sit up but as soon as she did she was sick everywhere including all over Rachel

"I'm sorry" Jess cried

"It's alright love, good job I hadn't changed out my pyjamas isn't it, come on stand up for me" Rachel said

Jess quickly stood up and Rachel changed the sheet and her pyjamas

"Oh darling I know is probably the last thing you want but you might have to come in with me for the day, is that okay?" Rachel asked

Jess just nodded her head, Rachel hated seeing her so down when normally she was so loud and bubbly

"Alright Jess you just have a nice little rest for an hour or so" Rachel said she then tucked Jess up in her bed and tried to get her comfy but she kept wincing in pain, Rachel began to wonder if it was something serious, she decided to leave it a bit and if Jess didn't get any better she knew she'd have to take the morning off and get her checked out.

Rachel was about to jump in the shower when Katie came in

"Rach I need to talk to you ..." She began however stopped herself when she saw Jess

"Darling can it wait just 5 minutes" Rachel asked

Katie nodded her head

"What's wrong with Jess"

"She's really unwell I'm deciding whether to get her checked" Rachel told her niece

Katie was shocked hearing this she hated thinking of her little sister unwell she rushed over to Jess and gave her a hug, as soon as she did Jess started to sob

"Will she be alright Rach"

Rachel was about to respond when she heard Olivia calling her, she quickly ran into her room

"What is it?" Rachel asked

"Can I go for a sleepover tonight at Maisie's house"

"Oh I don't know liv it's a bit short notice isn't it" Rachel sighed

"I was meant to ask you yesterday but I forget" Olivia explained really hoping her mum would let her go

Rachel sighed before saying "okay but Only if I get the chance to speak to her mum" Rachel knew from experience Olivia would often finish up making plans that her friends parents knew nothing about.

Rachel left Olivia's room leaving her daughter to get dressed, before going back into her own room to check up on Jess, when she got there she saw she was holding her stomach obviously in lots of pain

"Oh darling we're going to have to get you checked out aren't we, right I'll ring up my school so I can get some cover then we'll see if we can get a doctors appointment" Rachel said

Fortunately after making some phone calls Rachel did manage to get someone to cover her for the day, she felt stressed though she hated not being in school even if it was just for a day or so.

She remembered Katie had said she wanted to talk to her so knocked on her nieces door.

"Yeah" Katie called back so Rachel went in

"Love I'm staying home with your sister today" Rachel explained

"Okay should I just walk back tonight then?" Katie asked

"Well that'd be helpful darling there's not much point in me going out when you can't walk back in 5 minutes is there"

"I guess not"

"Anyway what was it you wanted earlier sorry I was busy with your sister"

"Oh ...well the thing is ... Don't get mad but ..."

Rachel was about or respond when suddenly she heard Jess screaming

"2 minutes love" Rachel said before rushing to see Jess

"my tummy really really hurts" Jess sobbed

"I know sweetie, can you try and stand up for me my love" Rachel asked wanting Jess to come downstairs so she could give her some water or something

Jess reluctantly got out the bed and started to follow Rachel downstairs however when she was at the bottom she collapsed to the floor

"Oh my god" Rachel whispered knowing it would have to be the hospital they went to if Jess was this ill.

"Jess"'Rachel called "Jess can you here me"

Jess opened her eyes and began to cry

"I know darling I know" Rachel said

Jess got up and began to stand up

"No wait stand down there a minute I don't want you fainting again and your obviously very poorly, Jess we're going to have to get you checked out t the hospital sweetheart" Rachel told her niece, Jess didn't say anything just continued to cry

"Girls come down here" Rachel called

The two girls came running downstairs both of he, now in there school uniforms

"I'm taking Jess to the hospital, get in the car I'll drop you off at school now"

The two of them quickly got there shoes on and went down to the car, Rachel bent down and scooped Jess up in her arms and carried her out.

The drive to school went by pretty quickly and Rachel was trying her best to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.

"Rach I'm scared" Jess sobbed

"You've nothing to be scared of Jess they'll give you a quick check over and then decided what to do to make you better, I promise nothing bad will happen to you"

soon they were at the hospital so Rachel carried Jess out to the waiting room as by now she was in so much pain she couldn't walk

Luckily they got seen to quite quickly

"Hi Jess" the doctor said "can you tell me what the problem is"

Jess had gone really quiet and looked at Rachel to explain

"Erm Jess has been complaining of a stomach ache all morning and it's been getting worse and she finished up collapsing earlier on" Rachel told the doctor

"Okay mind if I have a little check" the doctor asked

Jess nodded

The doctor pressed her stomach and this immediately made Jess scream out, she conducted a few more routine tests before saying "okay to me this seems like appendicitis, we've got it early and there's little chance of it bursting but we do need to get her to they're as soon as possible"

"I don't want to watch a show" Jess mumbled

"No love, it means you need to have a little operation to make you feel better it's nothing serious I promise and you're going to be fine" Rachel soothed however she herself felt extremely nervous

After a while Jess was wheeled away on one of the beds and all Rachel could do was wait.

Time seemed to be dragging on forever however suddenly Rachel's phone started ringing, she knew she wasn't meant to have it on but since there was no one else in the waiting room she thought she'd be able to get away with it

"Hello" Rachel said

"Hiya Rach "

Rachel recognised the voice at once as being Kim's from school

"Oh hi" Rachel said wondering why Kim would be ringing her now

"We just wanted to let you know Katie didn't turn up for school today"

"What" Rachel said shocked this really wasn't what she needed right now

"Oh I hate to add to your worried I just wanted to let you know"

"Well thankyou and if she does turn up please tell her she can expect to be grounded for a year when I get my hands on her" Rachel sighed

"I'll pass that on" Kim said laughing

"Thank you" Rachel said before hanging up and putting her head in her hands

She hoped Katie wasn't in any sort of danger and was just skiving off, not that she was happy about that in the slightest

She got her mobile out again and rang Katie however unsurprisingly there was no answer

She began to ring her again but this time a nurse came in

."I'm sorry but I am going to have to ask you to turn that off"

"Oh I'm sorry" Rachel said apologetically before switching her mobile off and putting it in her bag

"Are you still waiting to see a doctor" the Nurse asked coming to sit down next to Rachel

"No my ...well my niece is having her appendix out"

"Oh stressful morning for you then I bet"

"Hmm, I guess I'm used to it when I have 500 kids to control" Rachel said laughing but then she saw the confused look on the nurses face "what I mean is ... Well I'm the head teacher at waterloo road"

"Oh my daughter goes there you might know her Chloe jones"

"Oh of course I know her she's one of my nicer year 11s" Rachel said laughing

The two of them chatted for a bit longer before the nurse had to go and see to some of her other patients.

A few hours had passed and Jess was down the ward starting to wake up from her operation

As soon as she opened her eyes Rachel smiled and began to kiss her causing Jess to laugh

"Rachie" Jess said sounding sleepy but happy for seeing her aunt

"Rachie , that's a new one" Rachel said laughing" hi sweetheart how you feeling"

"I'm a bit sore"

"Well you will be for a bit darling I'm just glad your okay"

Jess then closed her eyes again and fell back to sleep still feeling really tired after everything that had happened

Rachel stayed with her for ages but she was conscious of time and knew she had to pick the kids up from school soon.

"Jessie I'm going to have to go out for 20 minutes I'll be back soon though" Rachel whispered before kissing her goodbye, she ran out to the car knowing she'd be late and headed first for Olivia's school.

Olivia was waiting in reception when Rachel got there, immediately Rachel felt bad and rushed over to her

"Hi liv I'm sorry I'm so late, come on let's get going" Rachel said taking hold of her daughters hand and leading her to the car

"Mum why were you late" Olivia asked

"Well you know Jess was poorly this morning, she had to have a little operation to make her better, she's awKe now though so we'll go and stay with her for a bit but you'll have to be really quiet because there's lots of very poorly children there" Rachel explained as she began to drive to waterloo road, she prayed Katie would be there because if she wasn't she didn't know where she'd be.

Almost as soon as she drove in she saw Katie stood in the car park, Rachel felt relieved however it didn't take long for her relief to turn into anger, she wondered what Katie was playing at as this was so unlike her.

"Hiya Katie" Rachel said she wanted to see if Katie would tell her something without her saying anything to her.

"Hi Rach"

"How was school then"

"Fine, it was really good" Katie replied hastily

Rachel nodded her head and looked ahead onto the road

Katie began to get worried she could tell her aunt wasn't acting normal and she prayed she hadn't found anything out

"Is Jess better"

"Not really she had to have an operation to get her appendix out, so as you can gather it's been a pretty stressful day" Rachel said however her voice had a tone to it and Katie could tell something was wrong.

Katie decided not to say anything just leave to leave it and hope for the best, she was about to start texting her friend when she saw she had 3 missed calls from her aunt

"why did you call me Rach, was it to tell me about Jess" Katie asked sounding nervous

"No it wasn't actually, it was so I could find out where the hell you were this morning when you should have been at school, because you weren't at school where you Katie?"

Katie shook her head in response and a tear began to form in her eyes as she realised how much trouble she was in

"We'll talk later" Rachel said her voice icy "oh and don for one second think turning on the waterworks is going to get you out of this one"

"Rach I'm sorry" Katie cried

"You know what it's not good enough Katie I hope to god you have a bloody good explanation" Rachel shouted

Katie continued to cry

"Rach I can explain"

"Well you'll have to do it later I need to concentrate on your sister"

The drive to the hospital was silent Katie was crying but faced the window so Rachel wouldn't see her

After what seemed like forever they got there

"Right come on out"

The two of them got out straight away and followed Rachel out.

They were walking across the car park when Katie's phone went off, she was about to answer it put Rachel took it out her hand

"I'll have that thank you"

Katie was about to protest but when she saw the look on her aunts face she thought better of it

As so soon as she saw Jess Katie rushed over to her and gave her a big hug

"Careful not to knock her" Rachel snapped

"It's okay she's not hurting me" Jess said

"Yeah but we have to be really carful you don't finish up getting knocked at the moment love" Rachel told her sitting down in the chair next to Jess's bed

"Rachel I'm really thirsty and hungry, they gave me some food but it was horrible" Jess told her aunt

"Right well we can't have that can we, what do you fancy Jess I'll nip down to the shop and get it for you now"

Rachel stood up and went down to the little shop and finished up getting a load of food for Jess, she knew from experience what hospital food was like!

A few minutes later Rachel came back and saw that Jess was asleep but only Olivia was with her

"Liv where did Katie go" Rachel asked

"She went to the toilet but she seemed upset" Olivia explained

"Okay" Rachel said quietly

A few minutes later Katie came back, she had red rings round her eyes making it obvious she'd been crying.

Rachel didn't say anything to her but looked at her niece, beginning to feel a little concerned about her.

A nurse came in a few minutes later reminding them that they'd have to leave in a few minutes.

"Jess we're going to have to go now love but I'll come first thing tomorrow to see you okay"

"Okay" Jess mumbled

"I love you lots darling" Rachel said kissing her on the cheek

"Love you too"

They then walked back out to the car

"I hope she's okay" Olivia said

"She'll be fine" Rachel reassured her knowing that Olivia was a worrier

Katie got in the back with Olivia, normally she'd sit in the front next to her aunt but she decided this wouldn't be a good idea today.

As soon as they got home Olivia raced upstairs to go and watch some tv in the computer room, Katie was about to follow her up not wanting her aunt to start shouting at her, but Rachel quickly stopped her

"Excuse me, me and you still need to have a little chat I think" Rachel said

Katie sighed before following her aunt though to the back room where they sat down on the leather sofa

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, do you know how worried I was earlier getting that call, me and your mother haven't brought you up to bed someone who skives off school"

"I'm sorry" Katie muttered

"Why Katie"

"I don't know". Katie said tears forming in her eyes again it she quickly brushed them away

"Well what were you doing? Who were you with"

"Just some friends, they asked me to come into town with them and I said yes" Katie explained however she didn't sound convincing

"What friends" Rachel asked suspiciously

Katie stares at the floor

"Right your not going to tell me that's fine ...I'll go through the year 7 register see who was absent today and ring up there parents and see who wasn't there"

"No don't, you can't"

"Why not, surely you don't think it's fair only you who gets grounded for a month and gets there phone, iPad and laptop taken off them because that is what's going to happen Katie" Rachel threatened

"Fine I don't care" Kate shouted

"Why won't you tell me what's really going on"

"Because you would bloody understand" Katie yelled before running upstairs and into her room

"Katie" Rachel called however she heard her door slam shut

Rachel sighed but decided to leave her a while and get on with yea, knowing they both needed time to cool down

About an hour later tea was ready so Rachel called them both down

Olivia cam running down, as usual she was starving but there was no sign of Katie so Rachel decided to go and get her

She knocked on Katie's door

"Go away" Katie shouted

Rachel rolled her eyes and went in anyway, however she was shocked when she saw how much Katie had been crying

"Katie teas ready come down please"

"I'm not hungry"

"It wasn't an option Katie, come down and have something to eat" Rachel ordered

"I said I'm not hungry just piss off out of my room" Katie yelled

"Oi don't you ever speak to me like that, what do you think your parents would have to say if they saw the way you'd been today"

"Well I don't know they left me didn't they, they died and left me with you, you stupid bitch" Katie screamed

She couldn't believe what she'd said, for a moment Rachel looked as if she was about to hit her but then she just ran out the room

Katie burst into tears feeling awful.

A few hours went by and Rachel had calmed down a lot and decided to go up to bed, she was worried about Katie and knew she'd never act like this of there was t something going on.

As she was going up the stairs she heard Katie crying, she sighed before going into her room

"Hey" Rachel said gently as she came into her room

She went and sat by Katie.

Katie immediately put her head into her aunts chest and started to sob hysterically

"I'm sorry I didn't mean it, please don't kick me out" Katie sobbed

"Katie I've been a teacher for 15 years I've been subject to worse abuse believe me"

She let Katie cry into her for a bit before eventually sitting her up

"Here dry your tears" Rachel said offering her a tissue

"Rach I need to tell you something .. Today I wasn't with my friends ... I didn't go into town" Katie said through sobs

'Right so where were you?" Rachel asked calmly

"I went to near where I used to live, something happened yesterday and I just couldn't face school today"

" oh darling why didn't you tell me if you were upset, that's what I'm hear for"

"I couldn't"

"Why not"

"Rach I can't say I really can't"

"Darling I'm not going to be mad, I'm not I just I need to know"

" because everyone hates me"

" what." Rachel said

"Rach I've do e something really really stupid"

"Okay"

" you know I told you I kissed tom...well the thing is he was going out with Charlotte" Katie sobbed

Rachel signed she knew Charlotte had been Katie's best friend for ages

"Oh love come here" Rachel said putting her arm round Katie "now Charlotte is going to be angry of course she is, but she won't stay angry forever, your young you are going to make mistakes, kissing tom was a mistake, skiving off school today was a mistake but people move on my love"

"She's going to hate me forever and she's my best friend"

"Darling she won't hate you,she'll be really angry but she won't hate you I promise"

"I can't go back to school"

"Course you can, the sooner you get it out the way the sooner it'll get better"

Rachel stayed up there for ages trying to calm Katie down and eventually it did start to work however even when Rachel left to go to bed Katie was still in tears at the moment she felt like things never would get any better

Please review cxxxxx


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Just wanted to address a review I had by Lucy, really pleased your enjoying the fic, completely get what your saying do tend to make characters act a bit older than they really are, especially the little kids, should have thought more about there ages at the start I know but just put any numbers down really, will try to get them to act more there own age but apologies if it doesn't work :)

It was a month or so later and Jess was recovering well from her operation and was back to being her normal, rather lively self. Rachel was pleased she seemed more like herself now as although she'd never admit it, the fact Jess was a pain in the butt half the time was part of the reason why she loved her niece so much.

It was the end of the day and Rachel was relieved when she heard the bell ring, she'd had a particularly stressful day and was looking forward to going home, although she wouldn't really be able to relax seeing as they were going away with one of Rachel's friends and her 7 year old son and 15 year old daughter tomorrow so she'd need to pack up for that and she was pretty sure none of the kids would be much help.

"Rachel" Katie said coming into her aunts office, Rachel could tell by the time of her voice she wanted something

"What do you want" Rachel asked smiling slightly

"Well I know I'm grounded but ..." Katie began, Rachel had grounded her a week or so ago after Katie had managed to come home a whole hour later than what she was meant to but Katie was praying her aunt would overlook this

"But can you go to Leah's sleepover tonight, that I spent my entire year 7 English lesson hearing about today" Rachel sighed

"Well yeah" Katie said

"No" Rachel said looking at her computer screen she hoped this wouldn't lead to a big argument, normally she might have relented however they all needed to be on the way early so she didn't want to have to pick Katie up as well and she knew how moody Katie would be If she didn't have her sleep and she couldn't be doing with that all day tomorrow

"Okay" Katie sighed

Rachel was surprised; she was anticipating a much bigger fuss than that over it

"Really Katie that's it, I'm not going to have a load of abused hurled at me and you telling me I'm the worst woman on earth" Rachel joked

"Nope I knew you'd say that anyway, I just thought it would be worth a try just in case" Katie said

"Thanks love...thanks for not going on about it, you know it's not so much the fact that your grounded that's making me say no but we have to be up so early tomorrow" Rachel said

"It's fine Rach honest" Katie said

Rachel then quickly picked up her stuff and walked out to the car with Katie

"Rachel can we stop at grandmas on the way back, I left my bikini last weekend and I'll need it when we're away" Katie said suddenly remembering she'd left kit there, Rachel rolled her eyes she really had wanted to get back at a reasonable time tonight as she still had a lot of packing to do.

"Yeah but we can't stay long" rachel said "and why on earth did you take your bikini to grandmas" Rachel asked

"Oh I went swimming last week" Rachel said

"With grandma" Rachel asked raising her eyebrows

"No with ..." Katie began however suddenly she stopped herself, she had forgotten she was grounded and hadn't told Rachel about going out for the afternoon with some of her friends

"Well the you shouldn't have" Rachel said however she wasn't too cross

"Rach I'm sorry it's just they were begging me to go and I didn't really want to let them down and I knew I was at grandmas for the day so I thought I'd get away with it" Katie explained praying she wouldn't get a lecture

"Yeah well when I say something you stick to it regardless of whether your at home or out in Australia got that"

Katie laughed relieved her aunt hadn't been too harsh on her as she always did hate getting into fights with Rachel

The two of them chatted for a bit longer before pulling up outside the primary school, Rachel realised she was a bit late so stepped out the car to go and pick the two of them up.

As soon as Jess saw Rachel she ran over and jumped up into her arms

"Hello there that's a nice welcome Jess"

"Rachel I missed you" Jess said

"You missed me? You've only been to school love" Rachel said laughing

A minute or so later Rachel saw Olivia coming out she noticed immediately that she didn't look particularly happy, she hoped to god the bullying hadn't started again as she knew Olivia wouldn't be able to cope with it again

"Hiya liv has school been okay?" She asked sounding concerned

"Mrs Jackson needs a word with you"Olivia said sounding genuinely terrified

"Okay then, you coming with me or staying here" Rachel asked wondering what had happened

"I have to come in too" Olivia said looking as though she was about to cry

The two of them began to walk in together and Rachel told Jess to wait in the playground with one of her friends

"Liv have you got something you want to say to me before I find out from your teacher" Rachel asked wanting to give Olivia the opportunity to explain first

Olivia was about to say something but then just shook her head

"Okay" rachel sighed before Following Olivia through to her classroom

Olivia sat down first so Rachel pulled a chair up beside her

"Rachel hi, I just wanted you to come in and talk about Olivia's behaviour today, we do need to keep parents informed about this sort if thing"

"Ok so what's been going on" Rachel asked looking at Olivia

"Well she'd been acting up all morning, you know nothing to serious just nothing like her usual self at all and at break well she finished up being really rude to some members of staff and hitting some of the other kids" she explained

"Olivia is this true" Rachel asked sounding stern, Olivia recognised that voice straight away and mostly it meant one thing - big trouble !

Olivia knew there was no pint denying it so just nodded her head in response

"I'm really sorry about this" Rachel said glaring at her daughter.

"It's okay we just wanted to tell you"

"Well thanks" Rachel said, she did like the fact that the teachers at Olivia and Jess's school always did tell parents what was going on, she would Hate to think something had been going on without her knowing about it

"Mum can we go now?" Olivia asked desperate to get away from school after today, she did feel awful about it but it was something she had to do, however she was dreading what her mum was going to say

Rachel quickly got up and got her bag before going out with Olivia

Olivia immediately began to walk really fast so she'd get ahead of her mum

"Oi don't think you can run away from me young lady, you and me need to have words"

"I didn't do anything" Olivia cried as Rachel quickly caught up with her

"Really well that's not what was said in there, but maybe we should go back and tell her she's got it all wrong" Rachel said

Olivia didn't say anything just looked at the ground

"No don't want to do that...I didn't think so, come on go to the car"

Olivia didn't dare argue with her mum so just followed her out and picked Jess up before going to the car

"Rachel we need to go back to school" Jess said as soon as they started driving off

"Don't be silly Jess" Rachel sighed thinking Jess was playing one of her daft games and tonight she really wasn't in the mood

"I'm not being silly, me and Matty swapped shoes for the day and I forgot to swap them back" Jess said

"Oh bloody hell" Rachel said exasperated, forgetting the kids were in the car

"I just forgot it was only an accident"

"Well going back to school won't do much good now will it, I'm going to have to go through the entire email list for everyone in your class and find out which ones Mattys mum so she knows you've got her sons shoes, honestly Jess why do you have to play such daft games, I don't see many other girls in your year doing things like this"

"It wasn't silly I needed to be a dad and he was being a mum so we swapped clothes, I did have his trousers on but miss jones saw and made me take them off"

Despite how she was feeling Rachel couldn't help but laugh at this, she knew what Jess was like and could just picture her dressing up and pretending to be a dad

"I wish I was a boy" Jess sighed

"Why" Rachel asked

"They have so much more fun, they can play football and run loads of races and everything whenever I try and join in the boys games they say i can't because I'm a girl and also boys don't have to have there mean aunty pulling there hair off every night" Jess said causing Rachel to laugh

"Now when do I ever pull your hair out"

"Well you pull it too hard when you put the shampoo on it and it hurts when you brush it"

"I'm always extremely gentle with you Jess, because if I'm not I know you'll start kicking and screaming and probably finish up braking my leg" Rachel joked

"Please can you get sharkey out from where your hiding him for tonight's bath" Jess asked

"No he causes too much trouble, you know what happened last time" Rachel said referring to a few days ago when Jess had got the shark out and had tried to get it to attack Rachel but had actually finished up cutting her arm quite badly

"Sharks are going to bite people though, you should have been more prepared and there was no need to be angry with me about it, it wasn't my fault" Jess explained

She was then quiet for a moment or so but then said "Rachel can we all go and swim with the sharks sometime" Jess asked

"No mum I don't want to" Olivia said immediately panicked

"Well we're not going to,honestly Jess when I was your age it was all about barbies and skipping ropes not swimming with flaming sharks"

"Well that's boring ...anyway I have barbie dolls and I play with them loads"

"Yeah you shave there hair off, draw all over them and then use them as weapons to hit everyone with"

"Rachel why did you have to go and see mrs Jackson, is Olivia in trouble are you going to make her stay in her room all night like that time when my teacher had to speak to you about me throwing toys at that boy and accidentally making his head bleed"

Olivia began to look worried she really didn't want Katie and Jess to find out and she hoped her mum wouldn't tell them

"Jess it's none of your business, now zip it for 5 minutes will you, just till we get home you're giving me a headache" Rachel said

Jess did decide to be quiet then so Rachel quickly drove back home, as soon as they pulled up Olivia began to feel,sick she was scared of what her mum was going to say, she thought maybe if she pretended to be Ill she might get away with it

"Come on you out" Rachel said to Olivia when she saw she wasn't moving

"Mum I don't feel well" Olivia lied

"Why what's up" she sighed not believing her for one second

"My head hurts, my tummy Hurts, I've got a temperature, I ...I ..."

"Let me guess have suddenly developed the plague in the last 5 minutes and are practically on deaths door so demanding an explanation off you would be completely unreasonable and if be in line for worst mother of the world award if I did ...tough come on up" Rachel ordered

Reluctantly Olivia followed her mum out and went inside,

Rachel decided to go into her study as she knew they'd be able to talk in private there, she sat down on her comfy swivel chair and Olivia sat down next to her

"Right come on what happened"

"Nothing" Olivia said

"Well it wasn't nothing was it now come on I want an explanation and we're not going to leave here until we get one" Rachel said firmly

Olivia remained silent but years began to form in her eyes and she stared at the floor

"Olivia come on tell me what happened"

"I just felt like it" Olivia mumbled

"I didn't bring you up to behave like this, you should be absolutely ashamed of yourself and I hope you realise how much you've left me down"

Hearing her mum talk like this was enough to make Olivia burst into tears, her mum didn't tell her off very often and actually she wasn't normally too strict with any of the girls but when Rachel did get angry Olivia knew she meant it

"Mum I'm sorry can I go now, I have to go to the toilet" Olivia said

Rachel sighed it decided to let her go, often Olivia would need some time to think things through on her own before talking to people

"Go on" Rachel said "but Olivia this conversation is by no means over"

Olivia ran upstairs and into the bathroom

A few minutes later Jess came running down

"Rachel can I go and play next door" Jess asked

Rachel thought for a Moment, but decided it would be quite good to have Jess out the way just while she was doing the packing and everything

"Yeah but Jess I want you back In an hour so when you see the clock turn to 5;30 I want you back okay"

"Okay" Jess said before running off, Rachel laughed as she watched her go she had never known a kid as lively as Jess was

Just as Jess was about to go out she suddenly turned back round

"Rachel you don't need to do my packing I've already done it myself" Jess told her aunt proudly

"Wow that's very nice of you jess" Rachel said a little wearily knowing Jess's idea of packing would probably be her entire collection of cuddly toys

Jess then ran outside

Rachel went straight upstairs and began to look through Jess's packing, she couldn't help but laugh when aShe saw all the stuff she'd packed

She decided to tip the sutra case and start from scratch, so she quickly ch joked in a load of clothes for Jess and all the other stuff she'd need along with a couple of the 50 odd cuddly toys she'd brought

She was putting all the stuff away when Rachel came across a big box under Jess's bed

Rachel knew she shouldn't go prying around but she was really intrigued so decided to have a look, her heart melted when she opened it.

She saw Jess had stuck loads of pictures in it of her mum and dad when they were alive and there were quite a lot of Rachel and Katy in there too.

She saw there were loads of bits of paper in there so had a quick look and saw there were loads of letters in there all to her mum and dad.

There was on,y a few sentences on each one because that was all Jess could manage but still it was enough to bring tears to Rachel eyes

Once she'd finished having a look through she put the box back. She hoped Jess wouldn't notice she'd been through

Once she'd finished she went to Katie's room and saw her niece lying on her bed on her stomach

"You okay love" Rachel asked

"My stomach hurts" Katie said nearly in tears

"Oh love when did that start"

"An hour ago" Katie told her

"I'll bring you up some paracetamol in a minute darling I just need to do some packing for you"

"Okay" Katie said

Rachel quickly went through Katie's stuff and chucked in a load of everything

Once she was finished she went town stairs and brought Katie up some stuff

She decided now would be a good time to try and talk to her daughter again, but she saw she wasn't in her room

Rachel noticed the bathroom door was still closed so went over

"Liv come out I need a hand with you packing" Rachel told her

When she didn't get a response she said "liv if you don't come out I'm going to come in"

"Go away mum" Olivia sobbed

Rachel waited a moment before opening the door, she was upset when she saw her daughter sat against the bath crying

Rachel sighed before going to sit down next to her daughter and Olivia began to cry into her chest

"Mum I'm really sorry" Olivia cried

"Hey come here you, don't cry darling"

After a few minutes or so Olivia calmed down

"Right what's going on"

"I only did it so Cassie and all them would like me" Olivia told her mum

"Now why would you want to be friends with someone who made your life hell" Rachel asked

"I don't know" Olivia mumbled "I guess I just wanted to stay on there good side"

"That makes sense" Rachel said "no really it does ... But it's never going to work, you are a lovely, beautiful girl and you don't need to impress anyone and tell me something-did it really make you feel good huh"

Olivia just shook her head in response

"No I didn't think so" rachel sighed "liv you're your own person and I know you've got lots of friends and if Cassie and them other girls are treating you nicely now then honestly I really am pleased, but don't let them drag you down to there level all it'll mean is you getting labelled as a bad kid in school, getting a load of grief off mrs Jackson, not to mention the countless lectures you'll get from me ... Trust me it's not worth it" Rachel said

"I guess so"

"Good girl, now I think what's best is we talk no more about what's happened today and forget it ever did happen providing that come next Tuesday when you go back to school you're back to the Olivia I know deal"

"Deal" Olivia said smiling slightly

"Right now that's the end of that, so now me and you are going to go through your wardrobe and pick some clothes out"

Olivia followed her mum through and together they did the packing

It was only after they'd finished that Rachel glanced at the time and realised Jess was late

She sighed before grabbing her coat assuming Jess had forgotten what time she had to be back for so she hurried next door and knocked on the door

However almost as soon as she did Jess came running over to her from the back gate

"Hiya Rachel" Jess said cheerily

Rachel was too shocked by the state of Jess to say anything, she looked like she'd been swimming in a mud bath, her face, hair and clothes were covered in mud

"We had a water fight in the back garden and but it was really muddy so it was actually a mud fight"

"Get over to the house now" Rachel said sternly

Jess quickly ran over and was about to open the door but Rachel quickly stopped her

"Don't even think about it young lady"

"Why"

"I'm sorry do you honestly think I'm going to let you walk across my cream carpets like that wait there" Rachel said before quickly running inside and getting some towels

Jess was now quite cold and wanted to get inside

"Right get them things off now" Rachel ordered

"I can't do that"

"Oh believe me you're going to" Rachel said aware that they were attracting the attention of quite a lot of the neighbours

"Everyone will see me getting changed" Jess said outraged

"I think that's the least of your worried Jess, now get them off there is no way you're coming in here like that" Rachel said

However when Jess still didn't move Rachel sighed and said "look I'll hold the towel round you, though why on earth you would think anyone would have any Intrest in watching you ..." Rachel began however Jess had already started taking her top off and trousers

"God Jess it's gone right though to your knickers, I'm going to have to carry you up to the bathroom aren't i" Rachel said she quickly wrapped the towel round Jess and carried her through to the bathroom and immediately started running a bath.

When it was run Jess got in and started splashing around

For once Rachel didn't attempt to stop her and let her have a good play

"Rachel you know mummy and daddy" Jess said

"Yes sweetheart" Rachel said wondering where this was leading to, Jess never normally mentioned her parents much now, Rachel knew how much she missed them though so did like it whenever Jess brought them up as she knew how important it was for a kid to talk about this sort of stuff

"Well do you think that they still love me? Will they still be able to see me" Jess asked

Rachel paused for a moment trying to think what to say here

"Yeah Jess I think they still see you and I'm sure they love you lots and lots" Rachel said tucking a piece of Jess's wet hair behind her ear

"It's just... When they died and i first came here I could never get to sleep at night and I used to have bad dreams so sometimes I'd imagine talking to them and they'd talk back, but now it doesn't work anymore so I thought maybe there angry at me because I'm naughty and don't always listen to you"

"oh darling" Rachel said before kissing her niece on the forehead " they love you lots, but I think now they can see how happy you are and are always looking down on you but they want you to be able to get on with your life as well"

"That makes sense"

"Well I think that's what it is Jess trust me" Rachel said

"I do live you Rachel"

"I love you too sweetie" Rachel said "even though you can be an absolute menace at times, fancy getting yourself this mucky" Rachel said causing Jess to giggle

She stayed in the bath a bit longer before Rachel got her out and out her favourite teddy bear pyjamas on her.

The evening seemed to pass really quickly, they had all finished up watching a film but Jess had fallen asleep just 10 minutes in so Rachel had put her to bed and now she was about to get Olivia to bed as well as they had an early start tomorrow

"Liv come on bed" Rachel said

Olivia followed her mum up straight away as although she wouldn't admit it she was actually feeling quite tired, Rachel go her into her pyjamas and waited outside the bathroom while Olivia brushed her teeth and went for a wee

"Night liv love you lots" Rachel said once she'd tucked her in

She was about to switch the light off but Olivia said "mum what's sex"

This was enough to make Rachel stop in her tracks as she really wasn't expecting it and didn't think Olivia was ready yet to hear the facts but knew she couldn't just dart around it, so Rachel went and sat next to,Olivia on her bed

"Where did you hear that from"

"School" Olivia said casually "Cassie's mum had told her about it and she was giggling about it with some of the others today but I didn't really here any of it"

This caused Rachel to roll her eyes, from what she'd heard Cassie's mum didn't sound like the most responsible parent and she didn't think 8 was the right age to be given all the details at

"I'm sorry mum I didn't realise it was something bad I was just wondering that's all"

"No love I'd rather you ask me, I'm really pleased you asked me actually" Rachel said "basically it's something 2 people do when there in love with each other, a bit like you might see someone holding hands or kissing it's like that it's something people do to show there in love" Rachel explained hoping this would be enough to satisfy her daughter as she didn't really want to go any further than that just yet

"Oh but what's funny about that"

"Well it's something that we'll have more talks about when you're a bit older, but it's nothing to worry about now okay, just have a nice sleep ready for tomorrow" Rachel said

"Okay night mum love you" Olivia said

"Love you too darling sleep tight" Rachel said once she saw Olivia's eyes were closed she smiled to herself and went back downstairs to Finish the film with Katie, she always did like spending some time alone with her eldest niece on an evening as often it was the inky time when Katie felt she could talk to her aunt privately about things that had been going on.

Please review xxxxxxx


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Know this is a bit random but Just wanted to say good luck to anyone taking a level/ gcse exams this week sure you'll all do great, I've got exams this week and next so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update but I'll definitely update at least once a week

It was Saturday morning and Rachel had just woke up, she knew she'd have to get the kids up soon, even though it was only 6 as they had a very long drive ahead of them to Cornwall which she wasn't particularly looking forward to, especially not with 2 little kids to entertain and she expected Katie to be pretty bad with it as well.

Rachel was about to get up and have a quick shower, when her bedroom door opened and Olivia came in and went over to her bed.

"Mum can I come in with you?" Olivia whispered

Rachel through the covers back before pulling her daughter in with her.

"Good morning darling, what you doing up,so early"

"I'm excited" Olivia told her mum, this caused Rachel to smile, her daughter always did enjoy going away places even if it was just for a little break like this, Olivia had always got on great with Angela and her younger son Thomas who was Olivia's age, they were more like family than friends since they'd known them so long.

"Oh that's good love but we've got a rather long drive ahead of us before we get there" Rachel said

"I know " Olivia said snuggling into her mum

Rachel was going to get up straight away but then decided to stay in bed just 5 minutes longer as she was so warm and cosy, she just didn't fancy getting up just yet.

"Mum can I go swimming as soon as we get there" Olivia asked hopefully

"Well maybe not as soon as we get there darling, we'll need to get unpacked and everything first and find our way round the site" Rachel said

She stayed in bed with Olivia just a few minutes longer before deciding it was time she got up and in the shower.

"Right I'm going for a shower stay in there till I get out then we'll all be getting up" Rachel said to Olivia

"Okay mum" Olivia said sleepily

Almost as soon as Rachel went in for her shower Olivia drifted off back to sleep, this was always so easy when she was in her mums bed because it was so comfy. However just a few minutes later Jess came running in and woke Olivia up.

"Olivia why are you in here?" Jess asked

"I woke up so I went in for a cuddle with mum" Olivia told her cousin

"Where's Rachel gone I need to see her"

"She went for a shower" Olivia said

Hearing this Jess quickly went over to the bathroom door

"You can't go in there when mums in the shower" Olivia said a little shocked

"Why" Jess asked not seeing what the problem was

"Because she's in the shower" Olivia explained

"She doesn't normally mind" Jess said opening the door and going in

Rachel was just washing her hair when she heard the door open, she was worried something was wrong so rubbed her hand against the shower door so she could see out of it, she was surprised when she saw Jess as she was normally still asleep at this time

"Jess what are you doing in here" Rachel asked

"I need to see you" Jess said sounding quite urgent

"Well I'm in the shower at the moment love, just give me 5 minutes" Rachel sighed, with 3 kids in the house it seemed almost impossible for her to have just 10 minutes to herself

"No I need you now" Jess whined

Rachel rolled her eyes wondering what it was that couldn't wait 5 minutes however somehow she doubted it would be particularly important knowing Jess

"well I'm going to wash my shampoo out first, or is that not okay with you" Rachel said

"We'll not really because I'm more important than shampoo but okay" Jess said, Rachel couldn't help but laugh at this a bit

Rachel was going to turn the shower back on but then she noticed Jess was still stood there

"I hardly think me washing my shampoo out requires an audience Jess, go and wait with Olivia will you" Rachel said

Once Jess had gone outside Rachel quickly finished her shower and wrapped her dressing gown round herself before going back into her room.

Rachel smiled when she saw Olivia and Jess both curled up on her bed

"Jess stop kicking me" Olivia moaned

"I'm not" Jess protested

"Go back to your own room, I don't even know why you came in here anyway! It was probably just to annoy me"

"No it wasn't and I will go back to my own room but I'm waiting for Rachel to come out the shower but she's taking forever" Jess explained

"Excuse me Rachel's already here after her much rushed shower because her very impatient niece couldn't wait 10 minutes" Rachel said laughing slightly

She then went over to the bed and picked Jess up and put her on her knee

" now what is it Jess" Rachel asked

"I think you need to ring the police" Jess said deadly serious, Rachel bit her lip trying not to laugh as she knew Jess hated people laughing at her when she was trying to explain something

"Oh do I, why what do I need to tell them?"

"We must have had a burglar" Jess told her aunt

"Oh that doesn't sound good does it, why what's been stolen"

"Well nothing's been stolen but somebody's been in my room and been through my private box with everything in that's special and nobody's ever allowed to look at it not even you but a burglar just have been in and seen it all" Jess said sounding worried

Rachel sighed realising she'd have to explain to Jess it was her who went through it and she knew this wasn't going to go down too well

"Jess I ..." Rachel began

"Should I ring 999" Jess asked "or that other number for the police that you told me off for ringing once when my horse went missing"

"Jess it wasn't a burglar who went through your things I promise" Rachel said

"Who was it then"

"It was me" Rachel admitted

"What but that's all my private stuff you're not allowed to go through that" Jess screamed

"Jess just calm down I'll explain ,..." Rachel said

"No I don't want you to I can't believe you looked in there" Jess shouted before running off to her room

Rachel sighed but decided to give her some space, this really wasn't what she needed this morning!

"What did you look through mum" Olivia asked

"Oh nothing come on you up" Rachel said

Olivia quickly got out the bed and went with her mum through to her own room

"Right put on something warm because I'm not sure what the weather will be like there" Rachel said

"Okay" Olivia said as she took her pyjamas off as she did Rachel noticed a Rash all over her chest

She went over and had a closer look

"Mum what are you doing?" Olivia asked

"Oh liv your eczemas coming back look, though it looks like you've been scratching it as well" Rachel sighed

"Oh no it gets so itchy and I might not be able to go in the pool" Olivia said sounding upset

"Come on let's go through to my bathroom and we'll put some cream on it" Rachel,said

Olivia got,up and followed her mum through, Rachel got the cream out the cupboard and massaged it into Olivia's skin

"There that should help a bit keep your top off 5 minutes though love, give it chance to dry up"

"But what if people see me"

"Well it shouldn't matter too much should it since the only other people here are me, Jess and Katie and you're only a little girl" Rachel reasoned

"I'm not that little anymore"

"I know love but you're still too little to be bothered about whether people see you or not, don't have to be worrying about that for a year or so yet" Rachel said smiling

Rachel then left Olivia to go and wake Katie up however when she got here she realised there was need as Katie was already up straightening her hair

"Oh good girl love I was dreading waking you" Rachel said

"Hiya Rach" Katie said

"You sleep okay"

Katie started laughing when she heard her aunt say this

"What, what's so funny" Rachel asked

"You must ask me that every single morning" Katie laughed

"That's true come to think of it ah well there are worst things I could say"

Rachel stayed in Katie's room a bit longer before deciding to see Jess

She opened the door and saw Jess leaning against her wall while sat on her bed so Rachel sat next to her

"Love I really am sorry" Rachel said "I just came across it and you know how nosy I am"

She then paused a moment before saying "but it was lovely Jess, really it was your mum and dad saw it they'd be so proud I know I was, I had a tear in my eye looking through it but I really shouldn't have and I'm really sorry"

Jess thought for a moment before saying "Rachel I don't mind you looking at it, I'd have shown mummy if she was still here and your a bit like my mum" Jess said

"Darling that's a lovely thing to say but you do know that id never try and be your mum don't you because you have a mum even if shes not here with us"

"i know but its nice having a sort of mum, because i need someone to go to when I'm upset" jess said

Rachel put jess on her knee and gave her a hug

"we're still friends then" Rachel asked and jess nodded her head

rachel stayed with her a few minutes before going downstairs as she needed to make a picnic for in the car journey

She had just started making some sandwiches when Katie came running down now fully dressed

"Hi love, don't suppose you fancy doing me a huge favour and helping me finish these sandwiches"

"Yeah sure" Katie said going and standing next to her aunt and helping her

"Thanks Katie your a star" Rachel said

The two of them stood there both in there own little words for a bit

"Rach my stomach still hurts" Katie said

"Get some paracetamol out the cupboard" Rachel suggested

Katie got some out and swallowed them

It wasn't long before everyone was downstairs after getting ready.

"Right we can have some breakfast bars in the car, I want to get going but go to the toilet before we go" Rachel said to Olivia and Jess not wanting to have to stop 10 minutes into there journey

"I've just been can I just go and wait in the car" Jess asked really wanting to get going

"Okay but you promise you've been" Rachel asked

Jess nodded her head before getting in the with Katie while Rachel waited for Olivia to come back

"Come on then liv" Rachel said once her daughter had come out the bathroom

A few minutes later they were all in the car ready to go Katie was sat in the front with Rachel while Jess and Olivia were in the back

"Mum where are we actually staying when we get there"

"I'm not too sure darling I think it's like a little lodge a bit like the ones at centre parcs but it was Angela that suggested it I've never been before"

"I like Angela she's so funny"

"Yeah she is isn't she, did you know Alicia will be 15 now liv god It doesn't seem long since she was your age" Rachel said it was scary how fast kids seemed to grow up these days she thought to herself

"Rachel did you Rory" Jess asked sounding quite worried as she knew there was no way she'd be able to go to sleep without him

"Course I have, I know It would be all anyone would hear about if I didn't"

"Alicia Angela and Tom won't laugh at me will they" Jess asked

"How will they know they won't be in the same lodge as us love"

"Oh"

They were all quiet for a few minutes but Jess suddenly said "I need a wee"

"You better be joking" Rachel said

"I'm desperate"

"You said you'd been before we left" Rachel said

"I just wanted to get going"

"well I'm not stopping"

"But i need to go"

"Tough" Rachel said bluntly determined not to have to stop now unless it was absolutely necessary

"But Rachel ..." Jess's began

"But Rachel nothing, I'm not stopping Jess end of"

A few minutes past and Rachel saw a sign for a service stop and realised she didn't really have a choice but to stop since Jess hadn't stopped going on about it

"I'm not happy Jess" Rachel said warningly

Jess quickly ran out and went to the loo

The others were close behind her and decided to go anyway as Rachel told them she wasn't stopping again for at least an hour and a half

When Katie was on the loo she noticed blood on her knickers, she sighed, it would be today that this happened. She wanted to get her aunt on her own but with Jess and Olivia around this would be hard

Rachel had come out the loo a while ago as had Jess and Olivia so they we're waiting for Katie

"Why she taking so long it's annoying" Jess complained

"I don't know how you dare Jess you're the one who dragged us in here in the first place" Rachel said "look you two go outside and wait for me and Katie there but do not move anywhere the last thing I want is to waste another 20 minutes searching for you two"

Olivia and Jess went out so Rachel waited

A few minutes later Katie came out and Rachel noticed immediately how worried she looked

While they were washing there hands Rachel said "everything okay darling"

Katie looked around to check there was nobody around before whispering "I came on my period"

"Oh love that's just what you need when you're going away for the weekend isn't it huh" Rachel said sympathetically

"Do you have any ...you know"

"Yeah in my bag just take it in with you" Rachel said

"What am I going to do for the rest of the holiday though have you packed any"

"Yeah I'm due in myself tomorrow so I've got plenty"

Katie then went in the toilet and sorted herself out

"come on then sweetie" Rachel said to her

Once she was out she was immediately bombarded by Jess

"You were ages Katie it's so annoying I wanted to get going but we had to wait for you"

"Well what would you rather us do leave your sister at a service station for 3 days missy" Rachel asked

"Yes then nobody would annoy me" Jess replied causing them all to laugh

The next part of the journey went surprisingly quickly and it didn't seem long till they were there

Rachel quickly drove them through all the booking stuff and it didn't take them long to find there lodge

"Oh this looks really nice" Rachel said as she looked round,mashed been a bit worried about coming here as she had no idea what it would be like but was pleasantly surprised by it all

Jess and Olivia had gone upstairs to have a look at the room they'd be sharing so Rachel and Katie finished looking downstairs before going to put there stuff in there rooms

"Oh Angela texted me saying she's here so we're going to meet in the little café near the swimming pool" Rachel told the girls.

"Why don't you two put your swimming costumes under your clothes"

"Okay" they said before going upstairs

"Katie you coming swimming love or don't you fancy it?" Rachel asked

"I want to but I can't can I"

"Well why don't you try using tampax"

"I'm not allowed am I?" Katie asked

"Why wouldn't you be allowed"

"Well Chloe at school said you can't use them if you're a virgin" Katie explained cheeks flushing a bit

"That's a load of crap you can use them whenever it's just a lot,of girls don't feel comfortable using them for a while"

"No I want to so I can go swimming" Katie said

"Okay come into my room a sec love" Rachel said

The two of them went into Rachel's room and Rachel went into her suitcase and got her box of tampax out for Katie, before going back into the kitchen

"Mum when can we go swimming" Olivia asked getting impatient now

"Love give me 10 minutes then we'll go I promise" Rachel said

"Okay mum" Olivia sighed before going up to her bedroom and unpacking her stuff

A while later Rachel called them all down and they walked over to the cafe, it didn't take them long to spot Angela and her kids

"Hiya Rach" Angela said giving her friend a hug

"Hello" Rachel said smiling "my god haven't you two changed" she Said to the kids

"I'm 7 now Rachel" Tom said proudly

"I know you are tom I can't believe how much you've grown" Rachel said

The 7 of them then went over to the cafe and got some drinks and lunch, it was really nice for them all to have a good catch up.

"Right why don't we head to the swimming pool now" Rachel suggested

This idea proved very popular so they went to the changing rooms

"Alicia you're so skinny" Katie said enviously when she saw Alicia in her bikini

"Don't be daft, and you're figures amazing" Alicia said "you look loads older than 11"

"Do I?" Katie asked thrilled, she loved it when people said she looked old as she was used to being told she looked young for her age

"Yep old enough to get into every nightclub going" Alicia said, Katie knew she was joking now but she didn't really mind she loved Alicia, she was always so funny and kind, and not stuck up at all even though she was really pretty

"How about we do something tonight just me and you" Alicia suggested

"Like what" Katie asked intrigued

"We could go for a late night swim or for a walk or whatever"

"Yeah that'd be great" Katie said excited

The two of them talked for a bit longer before going out the changing room and meeting up with the rest of them.

They had a really good time at the pool and had finished up going on all the slides despite Olivia being a bit scared at first, however now they all felt quite tired so decided to head back to there lodges for a bit and they planned to meet up later for tea.

"Mum my tummy hurts" Olivia complained

"Well it's probably because we went swimming straight after we'd eaten you'll have to have a little lie down when we get in" Rachel said as they were walking back

When they got back in Olivia was in quite a lot of pain, so Rachel put her on the settee and went to get a blanket

"There just have a little rest then I'm sure you'll feel tons better" Rachel said stroking her daughters hair

Olivia closed her eyes and it didn't take long for her to go to sleep

"Oh but we can't watch a film now, Olivia's taken up the whole sofa" Jess complained

"Well there's no hurry is there ? We do have the whole weekend Jess" Rachel said

"But what can I do now"

"Well why don't you help me make some pizzas" Rachel suggested hoping this would keep Jess quiet for a while

"Ok" Jess sighed going over to the kitchen and helping Rachel

"Rachel I don't think it's fair" Jess said

"What isn't fair love"

"Well you said Katie and Alicia could go off tonight for an hour or so for a swim but I'm not allowed to go"

"Well that's because you're younger love so I need to keep a closer eye on you" Rachel explained

"When will I be big though" Jess asked causing Rachel to laugh

"When you're my age, now come on get on with those pizzas"

The rest of the afternoon seemed to pass quite quickly and before long everyone came round for tea

Olivia said she still wasn't feeling right so Rachel only gave her a little bit of the pizza

By the time they'd finished there meal it was 8 and although Rachel and Angela had planned to have a drink they decided to just get going as Tom was already quite tired as were Olivia and Jess.

"Katie do you two want to go for your swim still" Rachel asked

"Yeah if that's okay"

"Yeah that's fine but be back in an hour or so" Rachel said

"Okay bye Rach" Katie said before going out with Alicia

Once they'd gone Rachel turned her attention to Jess and Olivia

"Right it's pyjama and bed time I think" Rachel said

"I'm not tired" Jess said adamantly

"Well I'll tell you what if you're a good girl tonight and go to bed now you can stay up late tomorrow that sound fair" Rachel asked hoping Jess would agree to this as she was ready for a bit of alone time without the kids to entertain

Jess nodded her head

"Good girl come upstairs then" Rachel said the two of them followed her up into the bathroom where they both brushed their teeth

"Right Jess go to the loo, Olivia get your pyjamas on" Rachel said

Olivia and Jess both did as they were told and it didn't take long for Rachel to get them into bed

"I want to be on the top bunk" Jess said

"I'm not having a repeat performance of Spain" Rachel said referring to the time a few months ago when they'd been to Spain and Jess had gone on the top bunk and finished up falling off and broke her arm

"Fine" Jess huffed

"Night girls love you lots I'll see you in the morning" Rachel said

"Night" they both said

"Now I'll be coming to turn this light off in 15 minutes and no being silly okay" Rachel said before leaving to go downstairs

Just a couple of minutes later Jess and Olivia both got bored so Olivia decided to come down and see Jess

"Olivia can we play hide and seek" Jess asked hopefully

"Yeah but don't let mum catch us" Olivia said

"I'll hide first and then you have to find me" Jess said running off

About 10 minutes later Rachel realised she'd have to go upstairs and see what was going on, she'd tried to ignore all the noise for a bit but it was getting a bit too much now

"Oi what's going on" Rachel asked when she saw the two girls running round

"We're playing tight Rachel" Jess said

"Well not anymore you're not, go on back to bed and I don't want to hear another peep out of the pair of you and If I do I'll have to separate the two of you" Rachel threatened

"Okay sorry mum" Olivia sighed

"Can we just have one more round" Jess asked

Rachel didn't say anything in response just gave Jess one of her glares and this was enough to shut her up

When they were both back in bed Rachel went downstairs again

For a while they were both quiet however then Rachel heard them starting to mess around again

She sighed realising she'd have to put one of them in her bed or they'd carry on like this all night, she knew what the two of them were like when they were both hyper

"Right" she said coming into there room "one of you is coming in my bed" she said

" I want to stay here" Olivia said

Rachel sighed she had hoped Olivia would come in with her as If ever Jess came in she would normally chatter on for ages and when she finally did go to sleep would take all the covers

"I'll go I like sleeping in your bed"

"Fine but you're to go straight to sleep" Rachel ordered "go on"

Jess skipped over to Rachel's bed and went in

"I'll be coming to bed in about an hour so you better be fast asleep by then" Rachel said

She then went downstairs for the third time hoping she wouldn't get interrupted again, when she was half way down she heard the door open

"Hiya darling did you have a nice time" Rachel asked

"Yeah it was good" Katie said sitting down on the sofa next to Rachel

"It's great how you and Alicia get on"

"She's so nice"

"Yeah she is, they all are really" Rachel said "anyway you fancy watching tv for a bit before bed" Rachel asked

Katie nodded her head so they flicked through the channels and even though there wasn't much on it was nice for them to spend some time together just the two of them

About an hour later they both felt really tired after a busy day so went up to bed, Rachel was relieved to see Jess was fast asleep, she made sure she was as quiet as possible getting ready so as not to wake her and then crept into bed, she flicked the light off before wrapping her arms round Jess and before long she was fast asleep

Please review xxxxxxxx


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Set a few weeks later sorry I rushed the holiday story thing just started writing a chapter on it but couldn't think of anything for it

Rachel was sat in her office when suddenly she heard a knock on the door, she sighed as this meant she'd now have to stop writing the letter she'd finally forced herself to do.

"Yeah come in" Rachel said

Rachel was surprised when the door opened and her niece and her rather angry looking form tutor opened the door

"Katie what's up"

"I got sent here by her" Katie said angrily gesturing towards miss jones

"Rachel she's been a nightmare all day, all her teachers have been putting in loads of complaints and she was a good 15 minutes late for tutorial along with a few of her friends and then she started giving me a lot of cheek"

"Rachel none of that's even true" Katie protested not wanting to get on her aunts bad side at the moment however she could tell just by looking at Rachel's face she wasn't impressed in the slightest

"Katie go and sit over there" Rachel said pointing to the little table in her office

Katie rolled her eyes before dumping her bags down on the ground and walking out

"Thanks for letting me know about it, I'll take it from here" Rachel said

Once miss jones had left Rachel turned her attention to her niece

"Why are you staring at me?" Katie asked sounding annoyed

"Well I'm just thinking how disappointed I am in you because I really thought we'd put an end to all this daft behaviour" Rachel said

"Well then it just goes to show that not everything you think is always right doesn't it" Katie said cheekily immediately making her aunts anger rise even more

"Oi that is enough" Rachel said instantly "now I don't know what's happened to make you feel like this, and I don't know where the attitudes come from but you better drop it with me right now young lady"

"Or what" Katie said

"Or you'll be grounded for the next month, I'll take your phone, iPad and laptop off you and they'll be no tv" Rachel threatened praying this would be enough to keep her niece quiet at least for a bit

Fortunately Katie did realise it wouldn't be a good idea to challenge her aunt anymore as she could tell she was being deadly serious about taking all her stuff off her and grounding her, Katie had learned the hard way that when Rachel said she'd do something she normally would.

Rachel started writing her letter again but she saw Katie pick her phone up and put her headphones in

"No I don't think so Katie, pass that here" Rachel ordered

Katie rolled her eyes before passing the phone to her aunt

"And If I see you roll your eyes at me again they'll be trouble" Rachel said "right what lesson are you meant to be in"

"English" Katie replied

"Right" Rachel said before going onto her computer and printing some worksheets off

"We've got 20 minutes left of school and I want you to have finished at least 4 of these worksheets"

"But Rachel these are meant for year 8 and they'll take me ages to do" Katie complained finding it unfair how harshly her aunt would treat her sometimes, she knew that if it was any other pupil whot got sent up here Rachel wouldn't be anywhere near as cold towards them.

"Well you're a smart girl so it shouldn't be a problem should it and anything you don't finish you can do for homework"

"Your so bloody unreasonable" Katie muttered under her breath however she wasn't quiet enough for Rachel not to hear her

"What and your saying that acting in the way you have all say and showing a complete lack of respect to everyone is being reasonable do you" Rachel asked

Katie didn't say anything but rolled her eyes again, luckily for her though Rachel had her back to her so didn't see Katie

"Anyway why were you so late?"

Katie was just about to think up some excuse when the phone started ringing

"Get on with that work" Rachel said before picking up the phone

She sighed when she found out that it was Olivia's school asking her to pick Olivia up early because she'd sprained her arm, she realised she'd have to take Katie with her too as it would be stupid going there and coming back when they now only had about 15 minutes left of school

"Right get your stuff we need to pick Olivia up, she's sprained her wrist, though why they have to tell me 15 minutes before school ends and couldn't have waited 10 bloody minutes god only knows" Rachel said feeling stressed

Katie quickly packed her things together and followed Rachel out to the car

"Honestly I've never known a school as daft as there's" Rachel said

"Can I have my phone back now Rach"

"No and don't for one second think you're out of trouble Katie me and you are young to have a chat about it later"

"Rach there's nothing to chat about honestly there isn't I was just having a bad day that's all"

"Why has something happened?" Rachel asked her voice a bit gentler now

"Not really ...Just stuff"

"What sort of stuff?"

"Oh Rach it really doesn't matter can we please just leave it" Katie begged

"Well no we can't because if there's something upsetting you that's affecting your behaviour in school then I want to know about it" Rachel said getting a bit worried

"It's daft but all it is, is that my old friends from my school I went to when mum and dad were still around ... Well they never text me or anything anymore it's like they've forgotten me and it's just annoyed me a lot recently so I've kind of been taking it out on everyone" Katie explained

"Why didn't you tell me it was bothering you" Rachel asked

"Because it's daft" Katie replied

"No it's not darling, hey I remember when I was your age and I lost my mum and dad, and everything changed I hated it at first, you know when my old friends didn't stay in touch and things I used to be a terror at school, but you do move on love , eventually"

"I guess and I really am sorry it won't happen again"

"Good because your a good girl Katie and I know you don't want to be getting into trouble, not with me or with any of your teachers"

"I don't but sometimes it's hard to stay out of trouble" Katie sighed, Rachel smiled at this and squeezed Katie's leg supportively

"We'll get there love "

They spent the rest of there journey in there own little world and it didn't seem long before they were at the primary school

"Right I'll go and get liv and Jess you just wait here love" Rachel said getting out the car

When she got to reception she saw Olivia and Jess both sat there ready to go however Olivia didn't look in pain in the slightest

"Come on you two" Rachel said

The two girls then got up and followed her out

"Liv let's have a look at your arm" Rachel said as they were walking back

Olivia held out her arm for Rachel to see and when Rachel looked at it she saw there was nothing wrong with it in the slightest

"It's really sore mum I don't think I'll be able to go swimming tonight" Olivia said, on Friday Olivia normally went to swimming lessons but recently she seemed to have gone off them quite a lot

"Hmm we'll see" Rachel said not wanting to get into an argument at the moment "my god it's hot isn't it I think it'll be paddling pool and Ice lollies when we get home" Rachel said

"Yay really Rachel" Jess said instantly excited

"Well we can't be staying inside on a day like today can we?" Rachel said before opening the car and getting in

"Katie why are you here" Olivia asked

"Well I was hardly planning on going back and forth 50 times, and Olivia why on earth did they send you home when you had all of 20 minutes left at school" Rachel asked

"Because they thought it might be broken so I'd need to go to hospital quickly" Olivia explained

"Broken ..for gods sake there's nothing wrong with it" Rachel sighed shaking her head

"Yes there is" Olivia said adamantly

Rachel then pulled up on her drive and the kids got out

"Hi Jess" Lucy shouted from next door

"Hello" Jess said back going over to her

"Hiya Lucy you fancy coming round ours for a bit?" Rachel asked realising Jess always seemed to go round Lucy's house

"Yes please ill just ask my mum" Lucy said the little girl then ran inside and just a few minutes later came back out again

"Yeah I can come"

"Jess why don't you take Lucy up to your room and put a swimming costume on and I'll fill the paddling pool for the two of you" Rachel said

Jess then ran upstairs along with all the other kids and they all got changed even Katie decided to put her bikini on and join them as it was so warm outside

It took Rachel a good half hour to get the paddling pool up but as soon as she did all the little kids went in it and started messing about

Rachel smiled and was about to go inside and get on with some work but then decided it was too nice a day to stay in, so got a deck chair out for her and Katie and brought her book out

"You look so pretty Rach" Katie said it was true Rachel really did look nice in her white summer trousers and t-shirt with her sunglasses on, she certainly looked a lot different than she did at work

"Aw thanks darling" Rachel Said

About 10 minutes later Jess suddenly looked really worried and ran out the paddling pool and went inside

"Jess" Rachel called after her however when she didn't get a response she decided to check up on her

Rachel searched downstairs for her but couldn't seem to find her so went upstairs, she saw the bathroom door was closed so realised she must be in there

"Jess what's up?" Rachel asked from outside the bathroom door, when she didn't get a response she walked in anyway

"Hey what's wrong?" Rachel asked kneeling down next to her niece

"Nothing" Jess replied

"Are you feeling a bit under the wether, is that why you came in love?" Rachel asked

Jess shook her head

"Come on love you can tell me can't you, you know I'm not going to tell the others"

"I had to go to the toilet but I didn't want to get out and I had an accident" Jess admitted

"Well that's alright love, don't let it happen again though we don't want the water in there getting all dirty"

"But Lucy will know and she'll laugh at me" Jess cried

"Hey Lucy won't know anything about it darling come on it's okay nothing to worry about I promise"

"Okay" Jess said

"Right let's go back down" Rachel said smiling slightly

Jess followed her aunt back downstairs and it didn't take long for her to get back in the paddling poll and start having a lot of fun again

The kids stayed in there for at least an hour or so but then Rachel realised they were all starting to burn quite badly, she cursed herself for not putting sun cream on them

"Right you three think it's time to get out now" Rachel said getting up off the deck chair, she got 3 towels out and wrapped one round each of them

"Your mum will be wanting you back now love she said 5 and it's near half past" Rachel said looking at her watch

"Okay thanks for letting me play in the swimming pool" Lucy said

"You're welcome Lucy, you'll have to come again tomorrow if the weathers still nice" Rachel said

Lucy then went back home so it was just Rachel and the kids

"Jess , liv I think we should go inside for a bit now, you both look like you're burning" Rachel said

Reluctantly Jess and Olivia went in and put some clothes back on

"Rachel I feel dizzy" Jess said

"It's probably the heat darling, come and have some water"

Rachel gave Jess some water and made her sit down for a little while

"Rachel" Jess said

"Yeah love"

"Please will you help me with my homework" Jess asked

'Alright darling, just let me get tea started then we'll sit down and do some" Rachel said before quickly putting the pizzas in the oven and then sitting down with Jess

"Right let's have a look" Rachel said picking up Jess's maths sheet she had to do

They spent the next half hour or so going through It, Rachel knew how much Jess struggled with maths so made sure she was really patient and after a while Jess really did start to get it

The evening passed quite quickly and it wasn't long before Rachel called Jess and Olivia up to bed

"Mum I'm boiling" Olivia complained

"Yeah you look it love, look I'll get you some water I'll just be a sec" Rachel said before going downstairs and filling up a cup for Olivia

As soon as Rachel gave it to Olivia she started gulping it down

"Hey go easy on that, I don't want you needing the loo all night" Rachel said

"Sorry mum I'm just really thirsty" Olivia said

"We'll try and go to sleep now but why don't you take your pyjamas off and just sleep in your knickers you'll be boiling otherwise"

"Okay" Olivia said before taking off her pyjamas

"Night darling love you lots"

"Love you mum"

Rachel then left to go downstairs however it wasn't long before her and Katie went up as well

When Rachel was half way up the stairs when she heard Olivia crying

"Oh dear that doesn't sound good does it" she said to Katie before rushing to Olivia's bedroom

"Liv what's up love" Rachel asked sounding worried

"I had a bad dream" Olivia told her mum before going to sit on her knee

"What was your dream about?"

"This man who kept chasing me"

"Oh that doesn't sound very good darling, but you're nice and safe look" Rachel said

"Can I come in with you?"

"Okay darling just this once" Rachel said

"Thanks"

Olivia then followed her mum though to her bedroom and they both drifted off to sleep really quickly

Please review xxxxxxxx


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

It was a Friday pnight and both Rachel and Katie were sat in the kitchen, though neither of them were speaking very much, Rachel had finished up having words with Katie earlier about all the complaints she'd been getting about her behaviour but it had soon turned into a full blown argument and it had ended up with the two of them having a falling out.

"I'm going out" Katie said sullenly

"Oh no your not" Rachel told her "your staying right here, I'm not having you going off with ... Those girls" Rachel said referring to the new group of friends Katie had seemed to be spending a lot of time with even though most of them were quite a lot older than her and Rachel knew how much trouble they were.

"What you mean my friends, am I not allowed to have them or something" Katie asked

"You know Katie when did these girls suddenly become your friends because up until last week you were perfectly happy hanging round with the people in your year, not two or three years above you so what's changed"

"The girls in my year are just kids and I've known these girls ages from dance class" Katie explained

When she saw the look on Rachel's face she added "and I don't care what you think either, you can look like that all you want but you still can't stop me meeting them tonight"

Rachel thought for a moment before saying "no your right I can't, but i can make sure I punish you if you go against me and go out when I've specifically told you to stay inside tonight"

"Oh I don't care what you say I'll be back soon" Katie said before quickly getting her stuff together and opening the front door

"Fine Katie you choose to ignore me you can face the consequences when. You get back"

For a moment it looked as though Katie was going to turn back round and a wave of relief spread through Rachel however she then proceeded to slam the door and walk out

Rachel ran her fingers through her hair feeling really worried, she just didn't know how to handle Katie at the moment, she felt as though Katie as making all the wrong choices but Rachel didn't know how to stop her, Rachel prayed Katie would come back soon and they could sit down and talk things through

"Mum why was everyone shouting" Olivia asked coming downstairs

"Oh nothing darling" Rachel said "right it's time you and Jess got in the bath"

Rachel took Olivia's hand and together they went upstairs and Rachel started running the bath

"Come on you two" she called

Olivia and Jess came through to the bathroom and got in

"Rachel is Katie In trouble" Jess asked

"Don't you be worrying about your sister"

"But I don't want her to leave" Jess said beginning to cry

"What?" Rachel asked

"If you upsets her she might decide to leave, that's what she did at mum and dad's house If ever she was really upset and I used to get scared"

"Oh Jess don't worry we just had a little argument that's all my love, I promise it was nothing serious"

Jess and liv were both quiet for a while and Rachel went into her own little world, she started to worry about Jess had said, maybe she should have gone after her after they'd argued

"Mum aren't you going to wash my hair" Olivia asked however when Rachel didn't respond she said quite loudly "mum"

"What.. Oh sorry love yeah course I am come on" Rachel said pouring water over the girls heads and massaging shampoo into them

After she'd finished bathing them Rachel got them both out and into there pyjamas, she decide to dry Jess's hair off first before getting her to bed and then doing the she with Olivia, she knew that if she did Olivia before Jess it was likely to lead to an argument

Once she'd got Jess ready she shouted Olivia but when she didn't come up she went into her room and saw she was asleep on the bed

"Come on liv" Rachel whispered "let's get your hair dried off then you can go to sleep"

Reluctantly Olivia got up and followed her mum through

When Rachel was drying her hair Olivia said "mum my stomach hurts"

"Really when did that start?" Rachel asked

"When I was in the bath" Olivia explained

"Come downstairs for some medicine then" Rachel said

Olivia hated the medicine her mum normally gave her when she said she had a bad stomach but it was hurting so much she was willing to give it a go

"Good girl" Rachel said when Olivia had taken it "come on then love, let's go up to the bathroom and then bed"

Olivia went upstairs with her mum and started brushing her teeth, this normally took quite a long time as Olivia was always really paranoid about her teeth ever since her cousin tom had made a joke about her having bad breath a few years back

Once she was finished Rachel said "come on love, go to the toilet then I'll tuck you in"

"I just want to go to bed" Olivia said quickly

"Yeah just go for a wee then you can"

"I can't"

"Liv I don't have time for this come on just go"

"No I can't go"

"Why" Rachel sighed

"Because it hurts when I go" Olivia explained

"Really, maybe we had better get that checked out" Rachel said "but you can't go till then without going to the loo can you"

A few minutes later Olivia came out, Rachel smiled at her before taking her to bed and tucking her in

"Night love you lots" Rachel said before kissing her goodnight

Rachel then went back downstairs just as she heard the big clock in the living room strike 8, she was beginning to get really worried about Katie, she knew she should probably look for her but she couldn't bring Jess and Olivia with her and she couldn't leave them either

Rachel began to ring Katie's phone but suddenly heard the door open

It didn't take long for her relief to turn to anger and she wasn't prepared to let her off lightly

"Katie in here" Rachel said frostily

"I'm going upstairs"Katie said sullenly

"No your going to come in here and me and you are going to have a little chat about your behaviour"

Katie rolled her eyes dramatically and then followed her aunt through

"Right where have you been who have you been with, and don't even think about lying to me young lady because I will find out"

"Just out" Katie shouted

"Not good enough, you're 12 years old" Rachel said moving closer to her niece

"What so your saying I'm not allowed to have friends or go out or ..." Katie said beginning to get in a state

Rachel was about to respond when she noticed her niece stunk of smoke

"Have you been smoking ?" Rachel asked in disbelief

"No" Katie replied defensively

"Right okay breath on me"

"Don't you trust me"

"Well no right now I don't think I do, trust is something you earn" Rachel said "breath on me" Rachel ordered

Her aunts voice sounded so Icy Katie didn't dare not do as she was told so lent closer to her aunt and did as she asked

"Katie I can smell it on your breath, how could you do this? Your just a kid" Rachel said "look at me in the eye when I'm talking to you"

"Rachel why do you always overreact to everything it's not a big deal all the other were doing it"

"I don't know maybe it's something to do with the fact I don't want you throwing your life away. Or maybe it's to,do with the fact I've got a duty of care over you and you've spent the whole evening off smoking with just about the roughest girls in Rochdale, or maybe it's because I actually care about you believe it or not and want to know where you are"

"Oh would you just shut up, I hate you" Katie screamed as tears started to form

Rachel was about to retaliate when suddenly the living room door opened and Olivia stood there shaking and looking extremely scared

"Liv what is it" Rachel sighed

"I need you" Olivia said sounding frightened

"Love I'm a bit busy right now, can it wait?" Rachel asked,she felt awful but she knew now wasn't the right time to tend to Olivia especially if her daughter was upset because Rachel wasn't in the right frame of mind to be dishing out lots of kisses and cuddles which is what Olivia might need she thought

Olivia nodded her head still looking upset

"Darling I'll come up and see you in 10 minutes or so okay"

"Okay" Olivia said sounding as though she was on the verge of tears, Rachel really did feel terrible she saw Olivia running back upstairs.

"Oh great back to me having all your undivided attention then" Katie said sarcastically

"Don't try and be clever with me young lady" Rachel warned sounding quite scary now "I want to know what the hell you thought you were playing at, you know I've got a bloody good mind to stop you going to that dance group all together, that way you might not be mixing so often with ..."

"Oh yeah that's typical of you Rach take away everything that's fun everything I enjoy mum wouldn't have ..." Katie began

"Your mum would have been furious with you and don't for one second think you can tell me otherwise"

"I'm going to bed" Katie screamed

"Good because I don't think I can take any more of you at the moment Katie, you have really let me down"

"That's all anyone ever seems to do to you ... Let you down, maybe no one will ever be good enough for you, your like some psychotic old cow " Katie shouted before running upstairs leaving Rachel bubbling with anger

After 5 minutes or so Rachel poured herself a large glass of red wine and sY down on her sofa.

It took a while but eventually she began to calm down, Rachel could remember what it was like being Katie's age and knew for a fact she and her sister had been 10 times worse than Katie, she knew that she should have been more calm and handled the situation better but she still wasn't prepared to let Katie off the hook, she decided to leave it till in the morning then talk to her as by then they'd have both had a chance to think things through and were less likely to fly off the handle

Rachel remembered Olivia had said she wanted to talk to her so finished her wine and went upstairs

When she reached her daughters room she half expected to find her fast asleep after all it was a while since she'd come downstairs now however when she opened the door she saw Olivia sat up in bed crying her eyes out

"Oh liv I'm sorry I was so long really I am" Rachel said rushing over to her " you should have just told me If you were this upset darling, god I feel awful now"

Olivia didn't say anything just rested her head against her mums chest and cried

"You going to tell me what's wrong" Rachel asked gently after a few minutes

"Mum please don't get mad" Olivia said

"Hey come on darling you know me better than to think I'm going to go mad when your this upset"

Olivia mumbled something into Rachel but she couldn't hear her

"Sorry love i didn't quite get that" Rachel said

"I said I wet the bed" Olivia said a little louder before bursting into tears again

"Oh right, well it's not a problem is it darling? Nothing we can't sort out with a quick change" Rachel said "hey don't tell me why this is why your so upset"

Olivia nodded her head

"Oh love but it's nothing to get so upset about, you should have just came over and whispered to me when you came down earlier I wouldn't have been cross I promise"

"So your not cross"

"Course I'm not I dare say it's happened to us all a few times in our lives" Rachel said

"But it's so embarrassing, even Jess never does it anymore and she's younger than me"

"I know darling but no one need know about it but me and you I wouldn't tell anyone I promise, I'm good at keeping secrets aren't i? That's exactly why you never find out if Jess needed a sheet change"

"Really"

"Yes love, anyway didn't you say earlier it was hurting on the toilet"

Olivia nodded her head

"Well then you've probably just got an infection sweetheart, easily cured with a dose of antibiotics"

"Okay" Olivia mumbled

"Right now jump up let's get this sorted out" Rachel said she gave Olivia a fresh pair of pyjamas to change into while she sorted the bed

"Mum what if it happens again, I had no idea about it last time until woke up because of my stomach hurting"

"I'm sure It won't darling and if it does just come and find me and we can sort It out again ... But I'll tell you what why don't you jump in with me tonight, just so if it does happen you don't have to worry about coming to tell me about it"

"Okay" Olivia said

"Right you go and get yourself comfy I'll be there in about half an hour or so" Rachel said

Olivia then went into her mums bed feeling a lot happier now

Rachel went back downstairs and put some tv on for a bit

She was about half way through a programme when she heard someone go into the kitchen, she immediately thought it might be Olivia or Jess coming to get her but when she got there she saw it was Katie getting a piece of bread

Rachel could see how much she'd been crying and couldn't help but feel sorry for her

"I'm sorry Rachel" Katie stammered surprised and a little scared when she saw her auntie down there as she thought everyone was In bed "I'll go back up now i just haven't had any tea and I was hungry I'm really sorry"

Rachel didn't say anything but raised her eyebrows and sighed before going over to her cupboard and getting out some pasta and sauces

"What are you doing Rach" Katie asked

"Well much as I might be how did you so nicely put it ... Oh yeah that was it much as I might be some psychotic old cow I'm not about to get done for child neglect"

When she saw Katie didn't understand she sighed and said "sit down I'll make you some dinner ... Though I'm not sure you deserve to have someone cooking dinner for you after the way you behaved"

Katie sat down at the table feeling pretty starving now, she could see her aunt was cooking her favourite meal but she really didn't get why she was treating her after earlier

About 15 minutes later Rachel got two plates out and served up the pasta and handed one to Katie

"Thanks Rach" Katie said sniffling slightly from her crying

"Like I said you don't deserve it, the only thing I should be giving you is some bread and water and a clip on the ear" Rachel said but Katie could tell she was joking

The two of them ate there meal practically in silence both of them in there own worlds

Once they were finished Rachel took her plate away

"Night Rach" Katie said nervously knowing her aunt was still probably furious with her

"You want hot chocolate I've got that special one you like"

Katie paused for a moment before saying "I don't get it why are you being nice to me"

"Ah well I want to have a talk with you and I know the only way I'll manage that is with a bit of bribery"

Katie smiled slightly before going to sit in the living room on the brown sofa, she always liked sitting there, this was the cosiest room of the house and it was where Rachel would always take the kids if she needed a private chat with any of them, it always seemed to have a relaxed atmosphere in this room

Rachel came back in a few minutes later with two cups of hot chocolate

"Here" she said giving one to Katie

The two of them stayed silent for a couple of minutes before Rachel said "you know ...when my dad found me smoking he gave me a full packet and made me smoke the lot there and then, god I was sick for hours after... Never went near cigarettes again though after that so I dare say I learnt me lesson so maybe I should try It with you after all"

"No Rachel please don't it was awful I felt sick straight away" Katie begged

For a moment Rachel's face remained serious but then she couldn't help but smile "Well luckily for you I'm not that mean even though you like to make out I'm just about the most awful person who ever existed"

"Rach what are you most angry with me for"

"Hmm let me think believe it or not it's not the fact you came into the house of stinking of smoke though do that again and you'll regret it as long as you live, it's more the fact you don't seem to be being very honest with me about stuff, I always liked the fact we could talk to one another but now I'm not so sure we can"

"No we can it's just ..."

"Okay then try me"

.

"What"

"Try me tell me everything that's been going on over these last few weeks"

"But Rach i don't want to be grounded forever" Katie said, Rachel laughed at this

"Katie you're already grounded forever after tonight's little incident and for your behaviour at school so you may as well add a few extra things to the pile...look Katie I'm not planning on going crazy or anything like that I just want us to have a talk "

"Okay but Rach you're going to kill me"

"Katie Ive said I'm not going to go mason at you but we need to have a talk" Rachel said

Katie was about to say something but suddenly burst into tears

"Hey" Rachel said before putting her arm around Katie and letting her cry onto her

"Hey" Rachel said again "Katie it's going to be okay, I know,we had a little argument earlier but we can easily out it right, come on don't cry" Rachel said handing her a box of tissues she always kept on the side table

"Rachel I'm going to go to jail" Katie sobbed sounding terrified

"what?" Rachel said wondering where on earth this was going to lead. "Look love I can see how scared you are and I know you're obviously terrified to tell me about whatever it is you've done but however much trouble you think your going to be in with me, I'm sure nits not half as bad as keeping it to yourself" Rachel said "and remember I have worked with teachers for ... Well god know how long so there not a lot you can say that I will be shocked about"

"Rach I know your going to be disappointed but ... The thing is ... I stole some stuff from a shop a few weeks ago, they were all pressurising me into it and I didn't want to look daft and I thought they'd stop going on at me if I did, but afterwards they started threatening to tell you is I didn't do stuff and I hated the thought of you finding out"

"So they were blackmailing you" Rachel said

"Well I guess" Katie said before bursting into tears again "I'm so sorry" Katie sobbed

"Oh Katie" Rachel sighed putting her arm around her niece "you should have let me know this was going on"

"I couldn't"

"Look I know I'd have been disappointed...I'm not going to lie and say I'm not but you didn't need to put yourself through all of this ... But now you've told me we can put a stop to it, first of all which shop did you steal from"

"The corner shop down Layton street I only took a few magazine and tiegan made my take some cider as well"

"But Katie you know what a nice couple the people who run that shop are and..."

"I know and I'm really sorry"

"Well I can see that but I want you to show it by writing a letter of apology to the couple who own the shop" Rachel said

"But Rachel ..."

"Katie if you really were sorry then you'd be happy to show it"

"Rachel what if they ring the police, they'll go mad"

"I'm sure they'll be glad you've had the honestly to own up"

Katie didn't say anything in response but Rachel could tell she was still scared

"Well you can on your letter tomorrow when you would have been at dance" Rachel said

"What your making me stop" Katie asked however she didn't sound that upset

"We'll not stop dancing but I think it's safe to say it would be best if we find somewhere else for you to go" Rachel said "right now I think you should go to bed"

"Haven't you forgot to ground me"

"What and you choose to remind me" Rachel joked "I think you've been punished enough Katie, but I'm serious about that letter and If the shop want to punish you anymore that's up to them and you are to accept the consequence"

"Okay" Katie was about to go to bed but suddenly turned around and wrapped her arms around her aunt "I love you Rachel" Katie said

"Believe it or not I love you too ...very much" Rachel said "now go on you scoot and try not to get in any more trouble"

Katie went back up to bed feeling a lot better than she had before

Rachel smiled slightly as she watched her go up before getting out her magazine to read for 10 minutes or so before she decided to go to bed herself

Rachel remembered Olivia was in her bed so crept into her room and brushed her teeth before reaching in her drawers for her pyjamas

She had just taken her top off when she heard Olivia start moving around

"Mum" Olivia said sounding sleepy

Rachel flicked the light on and saw that Olivia looked wide awake

"Darling what on earth are you doing awake it's 11:30?" Rachel asked as she out her pyjama top over her head "I didn't wake you did I? I tried to be quiet coming in but the floor board in here doesn't half creak when your walking on it"

"No you didn't wake me"

"Well then why are you awake" Rachel asked getting into bed next to Olivia

"I just don't want to go sleep in case it happens again" Olivia said

"Oh darling you'll be fine I promise you, even if it does it's not a big deal is it, I'm not going to be angry at you" Rachel said stroking her daughters hair trying to soothe her a bit

"I know I just don't want anyone thinking I'm a baby" Olivia said

"Well no one will because the only people who would know about it is me and you, and you can trust me can't you" Rachel said to which Olivia nodded her head

"Right should we go to sleep then I don't know about you but I'm shattered"

Rachel then flicked off the light and Olivia cuddled in to her, it didn't take long for the two of them to fall asleep.

It didn't seem long for morning to come round and Rachel was awoken by Jess bouncing on the bed

"Rachel wake up" Jess shouted

Rachel tried keeping her eyes closed praying Jess might go away and leave her to sleep for a bit, however she realised this was unlikely

"Jess it's 6:30 go back to bed" Rachel mumbled

"It's morning" Jess said

Eventually Rachel opened her eyes and sat up "Jess why do you always have to wake up so early" Rachel asked

"Why is Olivia in here?" Jess said ignoring Rachel's question "only I'm allowed in here except you"

"Oh is that so" Rachel said "I wanted Olivia in with me"

"Why"

"Because I got lonely now go on, either go and play quietly for an hour or so or go back to bed, I'm not getting up yet" Rachel said adamantly

"Fine Ill go downstairs then"

"Okay" Rachel mumbled before turning round and closing her eyes

Once Jess had gone Olivia stirred

"Morning darling" Rachel said when she could tell Olivia was awake

"Hi mum" Olivia said however she didn't sound her usual self

"Everything alright love" Rachel asked

Olivia just nodded her head

"Did you have an okay sleep in the end?"

"Yeah but my stomach kept hurting" Olivia said

Rachel was about to say something in response when Olivia suddenly rushed out the bed and darted to the toilet

Rachel began to get a bit worried, she got out of bed and stood outside her bathroom door

"Liv what's wrong" Rachel called

When she didn't get a response Rachel went in

"Hey what's wrong? Is it still hurting when you go for a wee" Rachel asked

"Yeah but I have a bad stomach" Olivia said

"Do you feel sick?" Rachel asked and Olivia nodded

"Oh dear we'll definitely book an appointment for you, but I won't be able to get you in till Tuesday probably" Rachel sighed

"I just feel weird"

"I know you do love, I'll tell you what, we'll have a nice quiet day today in front of the tv might be what we all need" Rachel said

"Okay"

"Go back to bed for now though love, I'll go down and bring you up some medicine, I need to check on Jess anyway" Rachel said

She then began to make her way downstairs but suddenly she could smell smoke coming from the kitchen

"Rachel" Jess screamed at the top of her voice clearly terrified

Rachel ran downstairs and rushed into the kitchen

Fear flooded through her when she saw flames coming from near her oven

"Move out the way Jess" Rachel screamed as she barged passed her niece and grabbed a tea towel and put the fire out

Jess was in floods of tears by now and shaking

"I was trying to cook bacon but it burst into flames" Jess cried

"You silly girls Jess do you have any idea how dangerous that could have been" Rachel shouted still feeling extremely shaken up "do you not have any common sense"

At the sound of her aunts angry voice Jess began to cry even harder

After a moment or so Rachel began to feel bad, Jess looked petrified and she knew she wouldn't have meant any harm, she rushed over and wrapped her arms around her

"I'm sorry for shouting but Jess what were you thinking, you know how silly it was" Rachel sighed

Jess didn't respond just cried onto her aunt

"Hey it's okay now, look your nice and safe and there's no really damage, come on your okay" Rachel soothed

"I thought I was going to be burned to death" Jess sobbed

"Well I'd have never let that happen, come on darling it's all sorted now everything's fine" Rachel soothed "come on come in my bed,mid have let you in before if I knew you were planning on burning the house down" Rachel joked

It took a while but eventually she did calm down and the 4 of them enjoyed a nice morning watching tv together

Please review xxxxxxxx


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

A few weeks later

Rachel was asleep but suddenly her alarm started buzzing telling her it was time to get up, it was a Friday morning and Rachel couldn't wait for the weekend, this week seemed to have dragged more than any other, this was probably because they'd had an inspection yesterday and she'd spent almost her entire week preparing for it so had been particularly stressed, although she loved her job and wouldn't change if for the world Rachel couldn't help but long for a day at work that wasn't filled with pandemonium

Rachel was about to drag herself out of bed when suddenly she felt someone next to her, she screamed in shock terrified to turn round but when she eventually plucked up the courage she saw it was only Jess.

Rachel was still recovering from the shock when Jess woke

"Oh good morning did you get lost finding your bedroom last night Jess" Rachel asked sarcastically "when on earth did you come in here"

"Well I heard you coming out the toilet last night and then I waited ten minutes till you were asleep then I snuck in" Jess explained

"but why did you ..." Rachel began confused

"I just couldn't sleep and I always sleep better if I'm with you" Jess said

Rachel couldn't help but laugh, she ruffled Jess's hair affectionately "honestly what are you like" Rachel said "right I'm going for a shower now so you stay in here for a bit but you'll have to get up when I'm out because I want to put some fresh sheets on so I'll need you off"

"Okay" Jess said still sounding quite sleepy

Rachel then went to her bathroom and jumped in her shower, it always did make her feel relaxed first thing on a morning, she always wished she could stay in there longer and let the warm water pour over her body, but after 10 minutes or so she realised she had to get out or she'd never get herself and the kids up and dressed in time for school, Rachel had just wrapped a towel around herself and had started brushing her teeth when Jess ran in

"Rachel can I go to your toilet"

Rachel was unable to respond when she had her toothbrush in her mouth so just nodded her head

"Well I can't go when your in here, go out " Jess said

Rachel rolled her eyes as she finished brushing her teeth "it's my bathroom" she said but she walked out anyway

A few minutes later Jess came out so Rachel went back in and started putting her body butter on

After a while Rachel realised she'd have to wake the kids up so went into Olivia's room and gently shook her awake.

Once she'd got Olivia up she knocked on Katie's door but when she realised this hadn't woke her went in

Rachel went and stood next to her niece, she noticed how pale she looked, Katie hadn't seemed right for the last few days and Rachel was starting to get worried about her

"Katie" Rachel said shaking her awake

Reluctantly Katie opened her eyes, when she did Rachel saw there were dark rings around them and It looked as though she'd been crying

"Morning love" Rachel said

"Hi Rach" Katie said

"Did you get a good sleep?" Rachel asked

"Yeah really good"

"Why does your face tell me different..you know those circles under your eyes are a bit of a give away" Rachel said

Katie didn't say anything just stared down at her bed

"Katie is there something up?" Rachel asked "something we need to have a chat about"

"No" Katie replied "look I just got distracted on my iPad for ages I lost track of time"

"Oh what have I told you about that it's terrible for your eyes to be on that just before you go to sleep for hours, honestly I think I'm going to start taking it off you at bedtime" Rachel Sighed

"I'm sorry" Katie mumbled

Rachel paused for a moment before saying "love are you sure there's nothing you want to tell me about because you really don't seem yourself and if there is I'd really rather you tell me and not keep it in"

"I'm fine Rach honest "

Rachel sighed realising she wasn't going to get anywhere so stood up and straightened her skirt out "okay love"

Rachel was about to leave when she remembered she had to tell Katie something "oh Katie remember it's year 7 parents evening tonight so I'm going to be home late, grandmas going to look after you but is it okay if you walk home yourself, I would give you a lift but there's so much to sort out and I've got to finish making this bloody presentation thing and make sure all the kids parents have been contacted and ...god knows what else they'll probably have me scrubbing the floor and making the food while I'm at it ..oh and on top of all that I've got to whizz round all your teachers" Rachel said beginning to realise what a hectic night it was going to be

"What but ... But you don't need to see my teachers do you"

"Um yeah, how else am I meant to know how your doing" Rachel said a little taken a back

"But you see my teachers all the time, they'd let you know if I've been in any trouble...half the time it makes there day telling you everything I've done"

Rachel went and sat back down on her nieces bed "darling believe it or not I'm not just interested in whether your in trouble or not I just like to know how you're doing in each subject, so that if there's any issues we can tackle them" Rachel said "look love is you're worried about what a teacher is going to say then ..."

"I'm not" Katie cut in "it's just, I find some subjects hard sometimes and it's difficult to concentrate" Katie said

"Well that's nothing to be ashamed of, no one expects you to be good at everything" Rachel said "Katie as long as you try your hardest then I can't ask anymore of you"

Rachel squeezed her nieces shoulder supportively before getting up as she was walking out she said "breakfast will be ready in about 20 minutes so try and be ready for then okay"

"I don't want any breakfast" Katie said instantly

"Tough, it's not an option Katie you can't go through an entire morning at school with nothing in you"

"You never have breakfast"

"Yeah ...but that's different ...because..." Rachel said but she was struggling on thinking what to say back to this, Katie did have a point she always did hate eating first thing on a morning but was constantly on at the kids to eat there breakfast

"Exactly" Katie said

"Look Katie you're having breakfast end of" Rachel sighed

"But I can't I feel sick" Katie said sounding quite desperate

Rachel was about to say something in response when Olivia came to Katie's doorway and started tugging in her mums skirt making it clear she wanted her attention

"Fine" Rachel sighed knowing for her to win this argument it would take a lot of time and energy and right now all she wanted to do was crack on with the day

"What is is Olivia" Rachel asked her daughter sounding a little flustered she then noticed her daughter was still in her pyjamas

"Mum you haven't left any stuff out for me so I can't get dressed" Olivia said

"What ... Yes I did I out them there earlier" Rachel said before going into Olivia's room however she soon realised she must have forgotten to get Olivia's school uniform out earlier after it had been through the wash yesterday when Olivia had come home filthy after some mad game of tig in the pouring rain on the muddy field

Rachel quickly reached into her daughters drawers and got out her knickers and tights

"Put those on, I'll nip down and get your uniform" Rachel said before running down and bring Olivia up her uniform

When she went back up to her room she laughed when she saw Olivia's tights just half way up her legs and all twisted

"Honestly liv how have you managed to get them in this mess" Rachel laughed before going over and sorting them out for her

About half an hour later they were all in the car on the way to school

"Mum did you sign my form for the school trip"

"What form, you've never said anything about a trip" Rachel said

"But the letter was in the bottom of my school bag"

"Oh well it's doing a whole lot of use there isn't it ...you know it would be nice if people gave me, or at least told me about things I'm supposed to know about rather than expecting me to have some sort of super powers so I know when to check your bags for crumpled up letters" Rachel sighed

"But you normally check my bag"

"Well you can't expect to every night Olivia" Rachel said exasperated "look find the letter and give it here"

Olivia spent the next 5 minutes searching through her bag and emptying the entire contents of it over Rachel's car until she finally produced the letter and have it to Rachel

As soon as they pulled up at the primary school Rachel signed the letter and gave it to Olivia

"Right go on you two you're going to be late" she said

The two of them kissed her goodbye before leaving, only then did Rachel see what a state the back of her car was in from Olivia emptying out her school bag

"It looks like the local skip in here" she sighed "why on earth is there a load of banana skins there, does she not know how to use a bin and what the bloody hell was that doing in her bag" Rachel said picking up a lipstick which she recognised at nice as being her own "oh the little ...I spent the best part of an hour looking for that it's my Clinique one.. She'll have used it in some dressing up game they play" Rachel said half to herself

It was only then that Rachel noticed Katie had her head in her hands and looked quite faint

"Katie what is it love" Rachel asked worried

"I feel dizzy" Katie said

"Right head between your legs, close your eyes" Rachel ordered

Katie did as Rachel instructed and soon she began to feel a bit better so sat back up, however Rachel was still looking worried

"Here go through my bag for some water" Rachel said passing her bag over to Katie

"I'm okay" Katie said unconvincing as she took sips of her aunts water

"Love are you going to be okay for school today" Rachel asked although she never normally liked letting the kids have days off, if they were ever really Ill she'd much rather them stay off.

"Rach I just had a dizzy spell I'll be fine"

"I'm worried about you Katie you really don't seem like your normal self, I know I said it earlier but if there is something up I do want you to talk to me about it, even if you think it's something I wouldn't be too pleased about"

"I said I'm fine" Katie said sounding a little snappy

"Is it ... Is it time of the month or something" Rachel asked

"No" Katie answered her cheeks flushing a bit "I think they've stopped"

"Why do you say that?"

"Well because I was due last week but I still haven't come on"

"Darling they only started a couple of months ago, there bound to be a bit irregular"

"I guess" Katie said wanting to end the conversation now

Katie stared out the window again until they got to school, she quickly got her stuff together before running off with her friends

Surprisingly the day seemed to be passing quite quickly for Rachel and she'd been able to get on with quite a lot of stuff, it was about 10 minutes before lunch when Rachel heard a knock at her door

"Yeah" she said

She was surprised when she saw Katie come in

"Hey Katie what's up?" Rachel asked minimising the letter she was typing up and diverting her attention towards her niece

"Rach I don't mean to bother you but miss jones sent me to you because I felt funny" Katie said "but it's okay I'll just say I've been up and you sent me back and ..."

"You'll do nothing of the sort come on sit down here" Rachel said gesturing for Katie to come and sit down on the sofa next to her desk.

Rachel quickly saved her work before going to sit down with Katie

"Is it your head again" Rachel asked

Katie just nodded her head in response but then much to her surprise tears started filling up her eyes

Rachel out her arms around her sympathetically "oh love you feeling a bit teary today hmm bit emotional?" Rachel asked

Katie nodded her head "I don't know why I'm crying I just feel a bit ..."

"Crap" Rachel offered

Katie smiled slightly and nodded her head

Rachel squeezed her arm before reaching for the box of tissues she always kept on her desk and handing some to Katie

"There you go my love" Rachel said "I know you don't feel well and to be honest you don't look well either, so why don't you have some lunch here and then I'll get grandma to come and pick you up, you can go home have a day in front of the tv with some blankets, that sound better than staying here when your feeling like this"

Again Katie nodded her head

"Right well you go and get some lunch and I'll ring grandma" Rachel Said

Katie was about to go off when Rachel stopped her

"Wait don't you need some more dinner money" Rachel asked

"No"

"Are you sure because I only gave you £10 on Monday and I doubt that would have lasted you the whole week" Rachel said

"Well it has" Katie said before rushing off

Rachel began to get concerned she wondered if Katie was eating okay because she remembered she hadn't wanted breakfast this morning and every night this week she I insisted Rachel only give her a tiny portion of tea and had finished up chucking most of It in the bin

Rachel rang her mum to ask if she could drop Katie off and then decided to go into the lunch room to see if she could catch Katie now, the bell hadn't gone yet so she would most likely be by herself in there

When Rachel got down there she saw Katie sat in the corner with a small helping of salad and she was only picking at that

Instantly Rachel went over to her

"hey that won't do you for lunch" Rachel said "stay there I'll get you something else"

"I'm fine Rach" Katie insisted

Rachel sighed and pulled up a chair so she was sat opposite her niece

"You see Katie I'm not sure that you are" Rachel began "you've been picking at your food all week and that's so unlike you"

"Yeah well I just want to be ..." Katie began but stopped herself

"Just want to be what " Rachel asked expectantly however when she didn't get an answer she said "look love i think there's something you and I need to have a chat about because this isn't you Katie, you look so gaunt and well to be quite honest your looking dreadful"

"Oh well thanks Rach you really know how to make me feel good about myself, it's bad enough looking in the mirror and seeing it but when your own auntie starts calling you ..." Katie sobbed getting hysterical

"Katie I didn't say that, you know I didn't mean..." Rachel said trying to defend herself

"Oh just leave me alone Rachel" Katie snapped before grabbing her stuff and running out away from her auntie

Rachel got up to follow her out but by now the bell had gone so loads of kids were coming out making it impossible to find her niece

"great" Rachel muttered, now she was left feeling completely panicked about her niece and she didn't have a clue where she'd gone

Rachel spent the next half hour unsuccessfully trying to find Katie

After a while she gave up and decided to ring her mum to see if Katie had just walked round there

"Hiya mum I was just wondering of Katie had come round"

"Yeah she came about 15 minutes ago"

"Oh great" Rachel said feeling relieved "is she okay"

"No not really she came in floods of tears, she want tell me what's up though so I just sat her down and gave her some coffee, she seems shattered though and she's fast asleep now, she doesn't look at all well either" Betty said

"I know, I know" Rachel sighed

"Have you two had an argument or something"

"Sort of ... Look mum I've got to go now but just tell her from me that she's not to worry and we're going to talk about it at home later, I'll try and be as quick as I can with parents evening and get off a bit early, oh and try and get her to eat something" Rachel said

She quickly said goodbye to her mum before putting the phone down and running her fingers through her hair

The rest of the school day went by quite quickly and soon the bell signalling the Ned of the day rang

Rachel quickly nipped to the loo before starting to do her make up again as some of It had worn off through the day and she hated looking a mess in front of parents but all she really wanted to do now is to home and talk to Katie properly

Rachel got her phone out and checked that Katie hadn't text her or anything but she hadn't, Rachel then tried ringing her mobile but as there was no answer decided to text her

Hi darling hope you're feeling a bit better, shouldn't be too long here, talk later love you lots xxxxx

She sent the text but immediate began to worry, she knew if she overpowered Katie she'd just close up

However just a few minutes later her phone vibrated telling her Katie had test her back

Feeling a bit better now. Sorry about before x

Reading this instantly made Rachel feel a bit better, just knowing Katie was okay made her feel relieved

After an hour or so Rachel had set everything up so quickly went to see Katie's teachers

After than half hour she'd spent with them Rachel felt very concerned, it seemed as though Katie had been really struggling to concentrate over the last few weeks and kept getting headaches and In some lessons had been nearly falling asleep. She couldn't help but feel responsible for all this after all Katie was in her care

As soon as parents started arriving Rachel tried to out on a brave face and was as polite as she could be and tried to make conversation with them all but really she just needed to get home

"Rachel are you okay" Chris asked "look if you need to get back that's fine we can manage"

For a moment Rachel thought about accepting his offer but realised she couldn't leave them to do all the hard work themselves "no don't be daft I wouldn't dream of it" Rachel said however just as she did her phone started ringing

She stepped outside to answer it

"Rachel it's Katie she collapsed and now she's in a real state she won't stop crying" Betty said down the phone sounding very scared

"Right I'll be there as soon as I can" Rachel said before rushing to tell Chris that she needed to get home

She then practically ran to her car and started driving home

As soon as she pulled up on the drive, she ran inside

"Mum" Rachel called

Betty came rushing out the living room "Rachel I've laid her down on the sofa but she's really upset" Betty told her daughter sounding really worried

Rachel quickly went through to the living room and despite her mums warning still felt extremely shocked when she saw Katie lying on the sofa crying her eyes out

"Katie, come on deep breathes" Rachel said trying to stay calm and control her nieces sobbing "it's alright don't try and talk just breath for me"

After a few minutes Rachel had calmed down her niece considerably

"There we go, you just stay right here darling I'm going to go through to the kitchen, but I'll be back in a few minutes I'm not going anywhere I promise" rachel said

She then got up and went with Betty through to the kitchen

"Mum what on earth happened?" Rachel asked

"I don't know it was so sudden she Said she was going for a lie down and all of a sudden she just fainted and then she came back and started sobbing"

"Oh god the poor kid" Rachel sighed "I don't know what all this is about not properly but there's something going on with her food at the moment she's barely eating at all ...god what of she's got an ED to think it's taken this long for me to realise" Rachel sighed

"It's not your fault love" Betty said

The two woman talked for a bit longer before Betty asked if Rachel would mind her going home, Rachel was actually quite glad she'd suggested it as she thought her and Katie could do with some alone time

"I can take Jess and liv with me too"

"Oh no mum I wouldn't expect you to ..."

"Nonsense it's for the best tonight Katie needs you on her own not with two kids jumping about, listen I'll get them sorted now" Betty said

A few minutes later Jess Olivia and Betty all came down

"Is she going to be okay Rachel" Jess asked through tears upset after what had happened to her sister

"Course she is love don't you worry" she said before bending down and kissing the two of them goodbye "now you two be good for grandma I'll come and pick you up in the morning"

As soon as they'd all gone Rachel went back to see Katie

"Hey love" Rachel said gently

"Rachel I'm sorry for making you come out of parents evening" Katie cried

"Oh Katie sod parents evening your the one I'm worried about at the moment" Rachel said stroking her nieces hair

Katie didn't say anything just continued to sob gently

"Darling I'm sorry...I'm sorry for not realising you were so unhappy"

"I'm not it's just..." Katie began however she couldn't finish her sentence

They were both quiet for a few minutes before Rachel said "why don't we go upstairs, I've got some chocolates hidden away in my room somewhere"

"I can't eat them ...don't you get it I'm fat" Katie cried

"Oh love you're not ...god if you're fat then there's no hope for the rest of us"

"But I am fat"

"That is utter rubbish Katie"

"No it's not I weigh so much more than everyone else"

"Who told you that"

"Just some of my friends we were talking about how much we weigh and I'm so much more than them, and ever since then I've been trying to loose weight but it's not working because I'm still massive and I'm still ugly" Katie screamed before bursting into a fresh flood of tears

Rachel sighed before bringing Katie into her chest

"Oh Katie...katie" Rachel whispered "come on don't cry so"

After a few minutes Rachel sat Katie up again

"Right let's get something very clear, you are in not fat, not in any way" Rachel said sounding quite firm "and you answer me this what's better to be a normal healthy shape and happy or starving yourself and ending up bursting into tears all the time, fainting, headaches, dizziness, poor school work the lot"

"I know and I know it sounds stupid I just hate feeling fat"

"Darling I wish you'd told me about this sooner I really honestly do" Rachel sighed "I love you so much and seeing you like you were half an hour ago it frightened me" Rachel told her

"Rach I'm sorry"

"There's nothing to be sorry for Katie, it's obvious to me you've got a problem and because I know that I can help" Rachel said "we can sort this Katie ... Might mean a few awkward trips to the doctors and a psychologist trying to pick your brains out but we'll get there darling I promise"

"Okay" Katie said sounding weak and vulnerable

"Okay" Rachel said softly "now I think we can forget about all this ... Just till tomorrow and have a nice night the two of us"

Katie wrapped her arms around her aunt again and Rachel brought her into a cuddle, it was the first time today where Katie began to feel a little comforted

Please review xxxxxxxx


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It was about 9 am on a Friday morning and Katie and Rachel were getting ready to go to the doctors, Rachel had been trying to book an appointment for her niece for the past week but she'd only just got one, however Katie seemed really reluctant to go

"Katie come on we need to go" Rachel called beginning to get a bit panicked when she saw how late they were running

"Katie" Rachel shouted when she didn't get any response

However when Katie still failed to materialise Rachel decided to go after her.

"Come on love we're going to be late" Rachel said as she walked into her nieces bedroom, she sighed when she saw her laid down in her bed with her arms around her pillow

"I'm not going" Katie mumbled

Rachel went and sat down next to her hoping she wouldn't take too much persuasion

"Katie we've been through this, look it's only going to take 15 minutes tops and I'll be in with you"

"But I've been eating fine over the last few days" Katie protested

Rachel thought to herself for a moment, it was true Katie's eating had started to get back to normal a bit however she still seemed very upset about her figure and had practically screamed at Rachel the other day when she'd walked in on her while she was just in her bra and knickers.

"Katie we're going" Rachel said calmly

Reluctantly Katie got up and followed Rachel out to the car

Rachel quickly out there stuff in the boot before beginning to drive off

"It's going to be alright you know Katie" Rachel said queening her nieces leg supportively

"I just wish I didn't have to go to the bloody doctors"

"Well it's just so we know what the best way to help you is" Rachel reasoned

Katie didn't say anything but turned so she was facing the window

Rachel tried to concentrate on the road however she couldn't stop yawning "god I'm shattered" she said

"Why you went to bed same time as me last night"

"I was up most of the night with your sister" Rachel told her

"What was wrong with her? Is she poorly?" Katie asked sounding a little worried, ever since her parents died Katie always did feel a bit protective over Jess and felt it was sort of her responsibility to look out for her

"Oh I don't know she just wouldn't settle, I finished up going in at about 4 in the morning, I laid on her bed so I could give her a cuddle but finished up falling asleep there, which didn't do my back much good"

They talked for a bit longer before eventually pulling up at the doctors

Katie thought about protesting but she knew her aunt would win and she'd finish up going no matter what she said

Katie traipsed behind Rachel praying the next 20 minutes would go by quickly

Katie sat down as her aunt went to register at reception before coming to sit next to her niece

She noticed how scared she looked so put her hand on her leg supportively

"I hate doctors" Katie muttered to Rachel

"Can't say I like them either to be honest love" Rachel said

"Well why don't we go home then?" Katie asked sounding pretty desperate

Rachel's face was enough to tell Katie this wasn't an option

The next few minutes seemed to drag considerably but eventually Katie was called through

"Hello Katie" the doctor said

"Hi" Katie said sounding nervous

"So would you like to explain what's been going on" she asked

Katie didn't want to explain herself so looked at Rachel hoping she would

Rachel immediately picked up on the fact Katie didn't really want to be one to tell her so decided to step in for her "um Katie's been having some trouble with her eating recently ... I'm not entirely sure when It started or why but I found out about it a week ago when she finished up collapsing and getting in a bit of a state" Rachel explained

"Ah I see and since that incident how have things been"

"Well things seem to be getting better she's been eating pretty much as she would normally over the last few days in particular"

"And do the two of you open about this"

"We try our best to be don't we Katie" Rachel asked looking at her niece to back her up

Katie just nodded her head in response still feeling a little intimidated by all this

"Okay so do you mind popping on the scales for me"

Katie didn't really want to do this but she knew she couldn't exactly say no so decided to step on

The doctor took some measurements before sitting back down, she explained that Katie's BMI was in the underweight section but was not yet to severe, however she decided to set Katie up with some dietary plans in order to help her gain some of the weight she'd lost Nd set her up with some counselling sessions

They both then thanked the doctor before walking out

"There see wasn't so bad was it?" Rachel asked

"I suppose not" Katie said

"Right time for us both to get back to school I think, though I can't say I'm particularly glad to be going back to set 10 year ten" Rachel said, today was one of the days she did a couple of hours teaching and although she loved it her year 10s were always particularly challenging

"Why don't we skive off and go shopping" Katie suggested sounding a little hopeful however she realised there was virtually no chance her aunt would agree to this

"Tempting as that sounds I do kind of want to keep my job" Rachel said

Katie smiled before getting back in the car

They were nearly at school when Rachel said "oh Katie remember we're going to grandmas for tea tonight"

"I know, I'll come out of lesson straight away to meet you"

"Good girl" Rachel said before pulling up at school

She quickly said goodbye to Katie before going on to get on with her day

The day seemed to go by really quickly and it didn't seem long before the bell rang

Rachel waited in her office for Katie however she seemed to be taking a while

When there was still no sign of her after 10 minutes Rachel presumed she must have forgotten all about it so decided to go looking for her

She was just walking past the cooler when she saw her niece was in there by herself with Grantly

Rachel sighed before walking

"Ah miss mason how can I help?" Grantly said in his usual sarcastic tone

"Actually I've been looking for Katie I didn't realise she was in here" Rachel said

"Well I put her in here"

"What for?" Rachel asked praying it wouldn't be anything too serious as she didn't have the energy to do a load of shouting tonight

"Well she was talking through my class and showed disrespect when I asked her to stop ... That is an acceptable reason isn't it I wouldn't have thought you'd want me to treat her any differently with her being your..."

"Yes it is and no I wouldn't" Rachel cut in her voice had a definite edge to it "but I'm afraid I've got to take her now you see we've got something quite important but because she can't do detention tonight I'll make sure instead you see her everyday next week for 15 minutes beginning of lunch okay ?"

"What" Katie said thinking this was completely unreasonable of her aunt

"And if you don't watch it it'll be 20 minutes now come on"

"But Rach" Katie began however then she saw Rachel glaring at her " I mean miss ...that's completely unreasonable"

"Well whether it is or isn't that's what's going to happen now let's go" Rachel said firmly

Katie rolled her eyes before following her aunt out to the car

"You know that was bloody unreasonable you'd never have done it with anyone else" Katie moaned once they were in the car

"Well if I hadn't have said it there was no way Grantly I mean mr budgen would have let you go so count yourself lucky" Rachel said

"Anyway why were you acting up?" Rachel asked

"Oh Rach I wasn't acting up I was just a bit chatty"

"Well you don't go to your lessons to chat you can do that in your free time you go to lessons to learn and .,.."

"Alright alright I get it" Katie sighed "look can miss mason disappear for a bit she's doing my head in"

Rachel couldn't help but smile at this

It didn't take long for them to get to the primary school and after a couple of minutes Jess and Olivia came out

"Hiya girls school okay?" Rachel asked the pair of them

"Yeah mum it was really good" Olivia replied

"Well that's nice to hear. How about you Jess, did you have a nice time"

Jess shook her head

"Why love?" Rachel asked

"I just didn't and I wanted to come home but they wouldn't let me and it's not fair" Jess said

Rachel looked at her through the mirror she saw she looked really tired and knew this was because she'd barely had any sleep last night and was just feeling a bit ratty now

"Ah well you can have an earlyish night tonight and I'm sure you'll feel better for it in the morning" Rachel said

"I want to go home" Jess said

"Well we're going to grandmas now" Rachel said

"I don't want to" Jess moaned

"Hey come on Jess don't be like that" Rachel said telling that trying to make Jess behave semi reasonably was going to be a challenge tonight

They finished the drive to Betty's house before getting out

"Rachel I have a poorly tummy"

"Well grandma might have some calpol and you can have a lie down" Rachel said knocking on the door

Rachel took a while to answer but eventually came down

"Hiya everyone" Betty said trying to sound cheerful however Rachel could tell at once something wasn't right, she had the feeling a mother daughter talk may be required away from the kids.

"Hiya mum sorry we're late, chaos as usual you know" Rachel said

The kids quickly started watching tv in the lounge, Rachel was about to go and help her mum with tea when Jess came after her

"Rachel my tummy really hurts" Jess said

"Alright love come with me to see grandma a sec then we'll see of she'll let you have a lie down upstairs"

Rachel took Jess through to the kitchen

"mum jess feels a bit unwell you don't have any calpol by any chance do you?" rachel asked hopefully, she knew betty often stocked up on calpol for whenever the girls came to stay over

"in the cupboard rach" betty said however her voice seemed really distant

Rachel searched the cupboard and eventually found it so gave jess some

"you wouldn't mind if i took her upstairs for a bit would you mum"

"no" betty replied

Rachel took jess's hand and led her up

"Rachel i have to go to the toilet" jess told her aunt sounding quite urgent

"Alright love you go to the loo and I'll wait outside" Rachel said

Jess quickly dashed inside

Rachel waited and eventually Jess materialised looking quite pale

"Is your stomach really bad darling ?" Rachel asked sounding a little worried

Jess nodded her head

"Come on let's go to one of the bedrooms so you can have a nice lie down, I don't think tea will be too good an idea so we might have to wait till we get home and I'll do you some dry toast okay"

Rachel carried Jess through to the bedroom she used to share with Mel when they were little

"There you have a nice lie down" Rachel Said putting her on the big double bed

"Did you used to live in this house Rachel" Jess asked

"Yes I did right from when I was born till I was about 18" Rachel said "in fact I used to sleep in this room, so did your mum"

"Oh ... Did you used to fight and stuff like me and Katie do"

"Yeah sometimes but we weren't too bad, well I wasn't your mum on the other hand" Rachel said laughing

"Was she naughty"

"She could be, just like someone else I know" Rachel said

Jess laughed but then a tear started to form in her eye

"You okay" Rachel asked gently

Jess nodded her head before coming into her aunt for a cuddle

"It just makes me sad talking about mummy" Jess admitted

"I know darling" Rachel said "you still miss her lots don't you"

Jess nodded

The two of them stayed cuddled up for a couple of minutes before Jess fell asleep

Rachel gently took her head off her lap and put it on the pillow before wrapping the duvet around her

Rachel then crept out and went downstairs into the kitchen

To her surprise she saw her mum in tears sat at the table, instantly Rachel went over to her

"Mum what's up" she asked

"It's nothing love just go back in the lounge with the kids" Betty replied

Rachel took no notice and pulled up a chair so she was sat next to her mum

"Rachel I'm just being daft I need to get dinner out" Betty said

"Hey forget dinner I'll sort it in a minute what's happened mum" Rachel asked

"Oh I've just had a bit of bad news" Betty said as more tears fell down her face

"Hey come on" Rachel said reaching in her pocket for her packet of tissues and giving them to her mum, Rachel hated seeing anyone upset especially her mum, Betty was getting on a bit now and Rachel always did feel very protective over her

"Thanks love" Betty said

"So what's this bad news you've had then?" Rachel asked

"A few weeks ago I found a lump and I went to get it checked out and it turns out I've got ... I've got breast cancer" Betty said tears filling her eyes

Shock began to creep through Rachel's body, she couldn't believe what she'd just heard

"What" Rachel said in disbelief

"They've done every test they could and there certain that's what it is"

"But they've caught it early... They can treat it quickly" Rachel said her voice filled with uncertainty

"They think so"

"Oh thank god" Rachel said "mum it's going to be okay"

"I know ... I'm just scared Rachel" Betty admitted

Hearing this made Rachel's own eyes fill with tears

"Hey come here" she said putting her arms tightly around her mum "you've got nothing to be scared of because we're going to get through this ... Together, every appointment you have, every treatment course I'm going to be there with you" Rachel said "and I promise you that"

"Thanks Rachel" Betty cried

"It's okay" Rachel whispered

"Don't say anything to the kids not yet"

"Course I won't, I promise"

They stayed talking for a bit longer until suddenly they were Interrupted by Olivia, by now both Rachel and Betty had dried there tears so it just looked like they'd been having a nice chat

"Mum I'm hungry" Olivia said

"Right we'll get tea out now" Betty said

"And you can give us a hand laying the table" Rachel added

Reluctantly Olivia followed her mum through and started putting out knives and forks

"Liv would you do me a favour and nip up to see if Jess fancies coming down for a bit" Rachel asked

Olivia went straight upstairs and came down after just a few minutes

"I don't think she wants anything she was crying when I went up" Olivia explained

"Okay thanks love" Rachel said before going upstairs herself to check up on Jess

"Hey darling you still feeling pretty rough huh?" Rachel asked

Jess just nodded her head in response

"Fancy coming down for a bit?" Rachel asked

"No" Jess mumbled

"Okay Jess you just stay up here we shouldn't be too much longer"

Rachel went downstairs and ate the shepherds pie Betty had cooked for them all

After they'd finished Rachel helped clear it all away before rounding the kids up

"Bye mum" Rachel said embracing her mum in a tight hug "and remember any time you need me I'm only ever a phone call away"

Betty didn't say anything but Rachel felt her hug her even more tightly, Rachel could feel tears forming in her own eyes again but quickly brushed them aside

A few minutes later they were all in the car

"Mum am I allowed to go and play at Chloe's house tomorrow" Olivia asked

"We'll see darling, of the weathers nice I think we'll do something together all of us but you can go after"

"Okay" Olivia Said

By the time they got home Jess was fast asleep again, Rachel was going to just carry her in but by the time she'd got over to the back her eyes were already open

"Come on Jess let's get you inside, I'll give you a nice hot bath then we'll get you to bed okay" Rachel said

Jess nodded and followed her aunt in

"You just have a lie down on the sofa while I get this bath running" Rachel said, before going upstairs and running Jess's bath for her, she put loads of bubble bath in it hoping if she had a nice bath it might make her feel a bit better

"Jess your baths done" Rachel called

Jess came upstairs into the bathroom and took her clothes off and got in

Jess was very subdued though and barely said a word, this was a first for her though normally whenever she was in bath she'd finish up nearly flooding everywhere when she was playing one of her games

Rachel spent a while massaging shampoo onto her nieces head hoping this would relax her a bit

"Rachel I really don't feel well" Jess cried

"You want to just get out and go to bed?"

"Yeah" Jess said

"Alright darling just go for a wee and brush your teeth"

Jess did as she was told and then Rachel lifted her up and wrapped a towel around her niece and carrying her through to her bedroom before getting out some pyjamas and putting them on her

"Come on sweetheart let's get you tucked in" Rachel said

Jess immediately got into bed

"Do you want me to bring you up a hot water bottle darling" Rachel asked

"Yes please" Jess said sounding really small

Rachel grabbed Jess's hot water bottle and went downstairs to fill it up however by the time she came back Jess was already fast asleep so Rachel put it down under the sheets next to her

"Night darling love you lots"'Rachel said despite the fact she was by now fast asleep

Rachel went back downstairs and saw both Katie and Olivia sat in front of the tv

"Liv come and have your bath love" Rachel said

"Oh but mum I'm watching this"

"well if you're a good girl and come now you can watch it for a bit longer when you come out, but Jess has just been in and it's still nice and hot so come on please" Rachel said

Olivia sighed before getting up and going up with her mum

"It's not fair" Olivia said as the two of them went upstairs

"What isn't fair" Rachel sighed

"You always make me go in after Jess and never Katie she can have a bath whenever she wants and she can stay in there for ages because you're not in there with her" Olivia complained

"Well she doesn't flood the bathroom like you and Jess do every time you go in so stop your moaning" Rachel said

Olivia still hadn't changed out her school uniform since they'd gone to Betty's straight after school so was quite glad to get up if it

"Oh god look at the state of your tights" Rachel said looking at all the ladders in her daughters tights "I've only just noticed, you're going to have to start being more careful with them, it's costing me a fortune, I have to buy a new pack for you practically every week"

"It's not my fault"

"Well you're the one that wears them" Rachel said laughing slightly

"No but I don't trip myself over when we're playing bulldog" Olivia argued

"Oh you're not all still playing that are you, you know you're not allowed mrs Jackson went mad with you all last time didn't she?" Rachel said

"I don't care I don't like mrs Jackson"

"Yes you do she's lovely" Rachel said "If you thinks she's bad you don't stand a chance with any of the teachers at secondary school"

"I can't wait to be in big school" Olivia said

"Oh I wouldn't get too excited about it, make the most of being young while you can"

"Mum when I do go to big school will I go to your school?" Olivia asked

"Well it's something we'd have to talk about closer to the time isn't it, Katie goes but only because I asked her and that's where she said she wanted to go but you might decide you don't want to go to the same school that I work in"

"It's be so weird having you in school with me. I think I'd like it because you'd make sure no teachers ever told me off"

"I'd make sure I was the teacher who told you off" Rachel said laughing

"I can't imagine you as a teacher"

"Well that's because you've only ever known me as your mum, people at my school probably wouldn't imagine me as a mum and If they did they'd probably think I'd be the worst one ever" Rachel joked

"Why? You're the best mum ever"

"Aw well thank you darling that's very nice of you to say, but when I'm teaching teenagers I have to be quite a lot stricter than I am at home"

"I still think it would be nice" Olivia said

Rachel smiled to herself knowing Olivia's mind would probably change in the next few years but for now she loved having her little girl who still loved her loads and always looked up to her

Rachel's mind started to wander a bit as she started getting the shampoo out, she stated thinking about her poor mum and began to wonder how they were all going to cope, she knew how devastated the kids would be when she told them

"Mum" Olivia said sounding a bit nervous

"Yes love?"

"You know dad"

"Yes I do"

"Well is it true ... Is it true when you toe were still with each other he liked this other woman and he gave her kisses And stuff" Olivia asked

"Who did you hear that from?" Rachel sighed, this was one thing she'd never told Olivia about and it wasn't something she really wanted to go through with her

"Well a few days ago when we were at grandmas house the two of you were talking about it but you didn't realise I was listening to you" Olivia explained

"Well it was a private conversation" Rachel said

"I'm sorry"

"No love it's nothing to be sorry for"

"So is it true"

"Yes it is" Rachel admitted realising there was no point lying to her daughter as she had a tendency to know exactly when Rachel wasn't telling her the truth

"Is that why you stopped loving him"

"Maybe it was one of the reasons"

"But why was It so bad"

"Look liv when you're older you'll understand this more but you see when you're in love with someone the love you feel for them should be enough and you shouldn't need to love anyone else in the same way you love them, so if they start doing stuff with other people which shows they love them too then it tells you that you aren't enough for that person" Rachel said, she saw Olivia looking blankly at her "that make any sense?"

"Sort of but you love me and you love grandma and Katie and Jess but that's not bad"

"Yeah but it's a different type of love darling" Rachel explained "oh love we'll talk about if when you're a little bit older"

"Okay" Olivia said "but when I'm older we'll be talking all the time because you'll have to tell me about all the things I've been asking about for ages and you just say "oh I'll tell you about it when your older"

"I guess we will be won't we?" Rachel said "now are you finished in the bath now?"

Olivia nodded her head so Rachel got her out and wrapped a towel round her

"Am I still allowed to to back down?"

"For a bit love but it's nearly 9 already so not for too long okay"

"Okay" Olivia said as Rachel reached under her pillow for her pyjamas

"Do you want me to dry your hair quickly before you go down?" Rachel asked

"Yes please"

"Come though to my room then" Rachel said

Olivia followed Rachel through and sat on the floor in between Rachel's legs as she started to dry her hair

They were sat down for about 10 minutes and then Olivia went back downstairs

Rachel tidied the bathroom up a bit before going down as well and making herself a coffee

She was going to go into the back room to read her book but then decided to join the girls and watch some tv with them

"What you watching girls" Rachel asked

"Gravity we found it with the DVDs"

"Oh yeah I bought it a while ago now I'm not sure it'll be much good though, and i don't really thinks it's a kids film" she said

"But I'm not a kid anymore mum" Olivia protested

"Oh yeah I forgot you're a fully grown adult now,you've turned 8" Rachel joked "well put it on and if it's a load of rubbish we can turn it off can't we" Rachel said

They put it on and surprisingly all found it quite good but when they were about half way through Rachel could see Olivia was getting tired so told Katie to pause it while she took Olivia up

"But mum I want to watch the end" Olivia complained

"Well I'll tell you what me and Katie will save the rest till tomorrow and watch something else now so then we can watch it again tomorrow night can't we"

"Okay" Olivia sighed but secretly she was glad as she did feel pretty tired now

Olivia was about to just go straight into her bedroom and go to bed but Rachel stopped her

"Hang on go to the bathroom first then you can go straight to bed"

Olivia sighed she really was tired now so just wanted to go to bed but went to the bathroom first to brush her teeth and go to the toilet

"Night darling love you lots" Rachel said once Olivia was finally in bed

Rachel saw Olivia was already nearly asleep so flicked her bedside lamp off and left

Rachel stayed down with Katie for a bit however they soon both got quite tired so finished up going to bed

Rachel woke up quite early the next morning and found the sun was shining she was pleased as this meant they could go for a picnic or something together, she hadn't wanted to just stay inside

Rachel had just got out the shower when Jess came into her bedroom

"Good morning Jess you feeling better now?"

"Yeah I feel back to normal"

"Oh great well that'll be the end of any peace and quiet I've been having" Rachel joked

"Can I go and play outside?"

"I don't think the neighbours would appreciate that at 7:45 in the morning love but why don't we both go downstairs" Rachel said

The two of them went down and Rachel sat with Jess as she played on the wii

"What are you didn't today Rachel?" Jess asked

"Well I thought we could maybe go to the park. You can have a play for a while and I can do us a picnic too"

"Okay" Jess said happily

They all had quite a relaxing morning and before long everyone was ready to go out

"Right I'm putting sun cream on the lot of you" Rachel said firmly not wanting them to get burnt like they did last time it was sunny

She grabbed a bottle out the cupboard and started putting it on Jess and Olivia

"You too miss ryan" she said to Katie when she saw her wandering off

"Oh but Rach I don't burn anyway" Katie protested

"Tough" Rachel said passing her the bottle

Katie sighed before putting it on

Soon they all got in the car and headed off

"Right we're going for a walk first" Rachel decided

"Oh do we have to" Katie said

"Yep come on" Rachel Said

After a bit more moaning all the kids started to follow Rachel through to the woods

"My legs hurt" Olivia said after 5 minutes

"Well then they obviously need more exercise then because no 8 year olds legs should ache from doing a bit of walking" Rachel said

Jess took hold of her aunts hand and started walking next of her

"That's nice Jess, it's nice to have someone hold my hand for a change neither of these two let me anymore" Rachel joked

"Can you give me a swing?" Jess asked hopefully

"Well if Katie gets your other hand I can" Rachel said

Katie grabbed her little sisters hand and her and Rachel swung her, however they did it a little bit too far and Jess's summer dress she was wearing blew right up causing them all to laugh

"I didn't want to go that high everyone saw my knickers" Jess said

"There's no one around to see you Jess" Rachel said laughing

"But there might have been" Jess argued

They continued to walk down by the river for a bit longer until they decided to have some lunch

Rachel put her sunglasses on and sat down on the grass feeling as though she was in heaven, she would find it to easy to stay here all day sunbathing

When they started eating the food Rachel was pleased to see Katie tucking in but decided against leasing her or anything as the last thing she wanted to do was put her off

"Mum I need the toilet" Olivia said

"Can you not wait love" Rachel asked not really wanting to get up

"I guess I could wait a bit" Olivia said uncertainly however the fact Olivia was already jiggling her leg up and down and looking uncomfortable told Rachel different

"Come on let's go and find some" Rachel sighed getting up

"Katie you stay here and look after the stuff Jess do you need to go?" Rachel asked

"Mum I really have to go" Olivia said sounding urgent

"Just 2 minutes" Rachel said "Jess?"

"Yeah I need to go" Jess told her

"Come on then" Rachel said

She tried searching round for some toilets but there didn't seem to be any

"Mum ..." Olivia began

"Yes I know you're desperate just go in the bush" Rachel suggested

"Ew I can't do that"

"Well it looks like you're going to have to" Rachel said

Olivia was about to protest again but suddenly ran into the bush erasing if she didn't it would be too late, luckily she jut about made It

"Are you going to Jess" Rachel asked

Jess nodded her head and quickly went

"Right now that's sorted we can go back to having lunch" Rachel said leading the two girls back and sitting back down

"You were ages" Katie said

"We couldn't find any toilets" Rachel explained

"Oh"

"Mum please will you make me a daisy chain" Olivia asked

"If I can find some daises I will yeah" Rachel said

Rachel looked on the grass around her and quickly found some

She set to work, finding it actually quite relaxing and after a while she realised how big the chain she'd made had gotten

"Wow mum that's massive"

"Hmm not really a necklace though is it, it would come right down to the ground"

"Put it in my hair, my hairs really long" Olivia suggested

Rachel laughed before wrapping it round her daughters head and tucking it inside her bobble, she thought it would look daft but it actually finished up looking really nice

"Do me one Rachel" Jess asked

Rachel smiled before doing the same again for Jess

"You're not going to ask for one too are you Katie" Rachel joked

"No I'll let you get on with your sunbathing Rach"

Rachel put some bags down as a head rest and laid down

She was only intending to stay there for a couple of minutes but after just a minute or so under the sun she closed her eyes and fell asleep

"Rachel" Jess said however Rachel didn't wake up she was deeply asleep

"She's asleep" Jess giggled

After a while Rachel started snoring and this made Jess laugh even more

"Leave her Jess" Katie said laughing, thinking it was nice to see her aunt completely relaxed for once

The girls started playing on there own for a bit and about an hour or so later Rachel woke up

"Bloody hell" she muttered when she realised she'd been sleeping "how long have I been asleep for"

"About an hour, you'd snoring was hilarious" Katie said

"Oh god I wasn't snoring was I"

"You were, a big bunch of kids from our school walked passed and heard you"

"What" Rachel said immediately feeling panicked a bunch of her students watching he while she was asleep and by the sound of it snoring her head off, didn't sound particularly good

However when she saw Katie's face she could tell she was just trying to wind her up with the last part

She smacked her leg playfully

"Hey I was only joking, some people did walk past though" Katie said

"Great" Rachel said sarcastically "god it's getting late now it's about time we got going"

It took a while but eventually the kids got up and started walking back to the car, all quite tired after having such a nice day together

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